Regional Communications Intern Review

I really enjoyed my placement and it exceeded all expectations that I had. I was lucky enough to get involved in a variety of campaigns, ranging from Mickey Mouse to Star Wars and Marvel. In addition to this, there are lots of different interns at the company which meant that I made lots of new friends.

I felt very valued by my colleagues. During my internship I was given quite a large responsibility for several different campaigns, so I never felt like a spare part. I also got frequent recognition from my line managers and other colleagues to let me know when I had done a good job.

I was given regular support my my managers. Every week they would ensure to have a one-to-one catch up with me, where we would discuss the tasks for the week ahead and answer any questions that I had. Each task was explained to me in full and I could also ask for help.

For the majority of the year, I definitely had a nice balance of work. I had a select list of morning jobs which I would routinely complete every single day and then I would carry out the additional tasks during the afternoon. I was never left to my own devices or thrown too much work.

I was given a nice level of responsibility during my placement. I'm not rating this as 10* as I wasn't left by myself, but this is what I would want from a placement year. I was the "lead" on some different projects, however always had guidance to double check my decisions.

Doing a placement year has been absolutely invaluable. My work ethic has improved drastically and I feel like I am now set up far better than I was this time last year, to write a dissertation. In addition, I have improved my confidence which will be crucial when applying for graduate jobs next year.

The communications department had a really good atmosphere. It was an open plan office so it was a really good environment for us to work collaboratively. The radio would always be playing and we had a "calorie table" which people would constantly fill with snacks. Also as a nice touch, without fail if it was somebody's birthday then their desk would be decorated and we would have a mini party.

The internship was set up really well. For my first week at the company, I had a handover week with the previous intern. She would support me for the week and had also written a handover document which I could refer back to over the year. This is a compulsory measure that has been put in place by the company and I did the same when I left.

The social scene was really good. In the whole building there were over 100 students on placement, and about 9 in total on my floor. We became really good friends and would always make an effort to leave our desks to go for lunch together, and regularly do things on the weekend.

The cost of living in Hammersmith was quite good for London standards, but expensive compared to the rest of the UK. The wage seemed to cover this and we would often go out socialising, however you would always need to keep an eye on funds. Despite saying this, London is the best place to find things to do for free.