Junior Intelligence Business Analyst Review

I enjoyed the chance to work in a major company that has such a large presence across Europe. It gave me an insight into a job area which I hadn't got much experience and was given the chance to develop my skills throughout the year and to express my ideas and opinions that could help to improve processes in the company.

I've felt very valued by my colleagues throughout the placement and to the extent that I never felt nervous to ask them a question if I didn't understand a task, as I knew they would be more than happy to answer it. It was really easy to be able to talk to them about anything and they were happy to give me responsibility and leave me to get on with the tasks provided by them and know that I will get them done.

The best way to describe my manager is supportive, kind, understanding and quite possibly the best manager you could ask for. He has been very supportive and helpful throughout the placement and was happy to give up his time to help me through any small issues I needed help with. He given me lots of opportunities to develop my skills and try the things I want to. My manager has also been very understanding about my personal situation and has been happy to make adjustments that would help ease my situation.

I had a mixture of days were I was very busy, especially during budget season, for days on end where I didn't properly get the chance to have a break and was pressured with tight deadlines. There were also days in which I didn't have much to do and felt slightly bored at times. Although, I was able to find extra work if I asked for it so it would depend on how much work was available at the time.

I was given lots of responsibility throughout my placement some of which I was initially surprised at that they trusted an intern with certain roles/tasks. Although, I was very happy that I could be trusted with these and loved that my manager wanted to give us a realistic placement year as if we were employed full time.

The role has helped me to understand the career path that I would like to take after university. It has shown me how the skills and abilities the have been taught during university can be developed into a real life scenario and make you an effective employee. Sony Europe has allowed me to try a lot of new things and discover new career interests and skills I didn't think I had.

The atmosphere in the office was never the same on any two days in the office. It would either range from being very quiet with a small number of staff in the office to being very full and lively with everyone chatting away. There was also a few times of complete silence during budget season but that was expected with everyone being busy.

I really enjoyed the placement throughout the year and the setup I was given in my department and loved the structure laid out by my manager. It would have been nice to have had the chance to have more organised meetings and events with interns based in other work offices

I was provided lots of training throughout the year and developed a lot of these things through day to day experience. There were several of these topics that I was given the task of passing on my knowledge to some of the other staff which let me test my knowledge. If we were required to learn more advanced skills/ training, the company gave us all the necessary resources to learn these effectively.

I'm very interested in the future employment prospects provided by Sony Europe. There is a great potential to return to the company after you graduate university and have better chances in the graduate program application process. There is the chance to not only apply for the department you are working in, but for other departments with similar roles within the company.

There was a games/fun room which the other placement students and I could hang around in during lunch and play pool or table football. I was lucky enough to have another placement student in my team so we worked a lot together and could chat a fair amount. As all the placement students lived in different areas, it was hard to organise lots of social events but when we did, it was really fun and everyone loved it.

The area we lived in was very expensive and lacked the chance of cheap socialising within walking distance. You would need to travel by either car or public transport to get to any area in which you could socialise at a good price. On the other hand, the public transport is very cheap and frequent which makes it fun to experience new areas and activities.

There was little nightlife in the area that we worked. A few bars and one club were in the area but lacked much atmosphere and people our age for me to enjoy. I did however enjoy the ease of transport for us to travel into London where the night life is thriving.

There weren't many chances to get involved with external activities outside of work that haven't been organised/ planned with the rest of the interns. As we were quite a few years younger than many of the colleagues in the office, it was hard to get a chance to experiences activities outside of work with them.