Product & Programme Intern Review

I found the team I was placed in to be extremely welcoming. This helped me enjoy the internship as even outside of working I enjoyed my time with my colleagues. Enjoyment was further emphasised as the tasks I got to work on were actual business tasks and provided real value to the team.

My team were welcoming from day one and made me feel like a part of the team from early on. In addition to this I got on with a lot of the people on a personal level and feel like I gained some friends as well as colleagues. I was also allowed to lead team ceremonies, just as my manager usually would. This further emphasised my value as I was being allowed to drive standard team tasks.

I had a weekly catchup with my manager every Friday and he was always open and welcoming to questions. Despite this, he encouraged me to build up my network and look for a lot of information myself, this also helped guide me through the internship process. I had a lot of resources to always ask questions.

Business was a bit hit and miss. Some days I felt my schedule was completely packed and I had so much to take in, yet other days I had a completely empty schedule and would struggle to find things to do. I think this may be more of a fault in the role as I found that with a Product & Programme role if there isn't something to drive, there isn't much downtime work available. I did have a project I could work on in my downtime, however as I grew more into the role I felt like although this could keep me busy, the work wasn't that valuable and I would rather have more actual work to do.

In the last 2 weeks of my internship my line Manager went on holiday. Given that I'd been at the placement for 8 weeks, I was well-equipped to take the lead and this responsibility given to me was a great aspect of my placement. It really allowed me to test myself more than others got the chance to, and let me see exactly how the role works, without the guidance of my manager.

I think the skills I developed, particularly working on an agile methodology are skills to be utilised for life, however they don't really relate to my degree at all. The technological framework I worked with is however very helpful in any future jobs in this industry. Training in skills such as Splunk are also applicable in many different roles.

Fairly chill and relaxed, I felt I wasn't under huge pressure and I could always ask questions without being judged. Communication between teams is often friendly and useful, it never felt like there was hostility in the office. The only downside was the high turnover of staff in my team particularly.

Was given a 10-week plan which was simple to follow and mapped out exactly what we was going to be doing. This was helpful in looking ahead for the weeks, however at times the plan strayed from what was being told. Some events were also cancelled or didn't live up to what I expected.

Fair few amount of training sessions ran, along with the support that I was provided from my line managers and my team as a whole. This gave me quite a lot of development, however in regards to training there wasn't a huge amount on offer. Generic masterclass sessions were offered but they weren't that useful for many parts of my work.

Unsure as I haven't actually finished the placement yet, I still have a couple more weeks left. However there are many examples of people getting a job offer after the placement ends, and I am hoping this will be the case with me. Even if it isn't, prospects as a whole seem to be good and the offers are appealing.

Yes, social scene was decent. My team would often go for leaving drinks or a few drinks after work on Friday, helping to keep morale up. The graduate/intern team that was responsible for the interns also organised a few events which were independent of our teams, this helped to provide a social setting away from the people I work with every day.

Welwyn is averagely priced, rent wasn't stupidly expensive but it wasn't exactly cheap either. Little bit cheaper than London so definitely liveable and the wage provided was more than enough to live here. In regards to socialising, Welwyn Garden City really doesn't have much on offer and I found myself travelling to Londonon to socialise, which ended up costing me even more.