Health Evaluation and Research Intern Review

I really enjoyed my time at CRUK. It's a really nice atmosphere to work is fairly relaxed in terms of dress code, core hours etc. I was part of a cohort of 11 interns that all started on the same day which is really nice to have a group of friends to start with Overall I found the work really interesting and was given a good level of responsibility - I was never bored and wasn't just given menial tasks

I felt highly valued by my colleagues, especially those within my team. they were incredibly supportive and invited me along to meetings etc that they thought would interest me and always asked for my opinions on projects that we were discussing. I was given responsibility in my work and was trusted to do a good job. For example my research was shared with external stakeholders and presented in meetings without being spoonfed or told what to do

I was given a lot of support and guidance by both my direct line manager and others in my team. They were always on hand to answer any questions I might have and gave me feedback on my work throughout. We also had intern development days where we learnt about project management, CV skills etc

I had a good level of work to keep me busy throughout the internship. I had several small projects to be working on that I could go back to when I completed the smaller projects that came up. At some points the workload was lower, but I was never bored and there was always other stuff I could be doing. You're really encouraged to get a mentor, and explore other areas of CRUK so you could take on more work if you wanted to.

I was given a good level of responsibility to get on with my work and do a good job. For example I needed to do some research and send a review over to external stakeholders. Although I send drafts to be double checked by my manager, for the most part I was trusted to do this alone. This was the case with several other tasks, I could always ask for guidance or someone to read over what I had done, but for the most part had a lot of autonomy and trust.

I have already completed a postgraduate degree but the skills I have developed will undoubtedly assist me in my future job hunt. The training we receive in the intern development days, project management, CV skills etc is pretty basic and I wouldn't say was hugely helpful but was a good intro. the skills developed through completing the workplan and through the overall experience were much more important. University tends to only teach you the theoretical aspects of your topic, in my case psychology, but applying it in a real world context develops your expertise and confidence beyond this.

Generally a pretty relaxed vibe - people dress smart/casual so smartish trainers and jeans are fine. work hours are also pretty flexible, with people coming in 9-5 as standard but can choose to do 8-4, 10-6 if you really wanted to. Everyone is really friendly and always on hand to help confused interns find their way around

the placement was well organised with a good structure - were given mid and end reviews with managers, intern development days spread throughout. I personally had a really good and varied workplan that filled my time pretty perfectly and I think others tended to have the same experience

personal training and development was something they were really keen on. we were all encouraged to set personal development plans and work to meet objectives. theres a lot of online courses you can do through the CRUK system in things like data analysis etc and you're pretty free to spend time on these during work hours if you want to.

really encouraged to apply for jobs arising within the company and several interns were successful in this or got their projects extended. I would definitely consider applying to relevant roles that come up in the future.

We were a small cohort of 11 which was nice as we all often met up for lunch and after work drinks. Because you're so spread around different teams in a big office I didn't see them a huge amount during the days. The first day is spent with other interns with a pub trip at the end, so this is a really nice start to get everyone together - free to be as social or unsocial as you want really..

The offices are in Angel in central London so bars etc are pretty reflective of London prices. Rent in Angel is pretty high but its on a well connected (but busy!) tube line and lots of buses to cheaper areas. the offices are moving to Stratford in East London at the end of this year so this will probably increase travel costs..

Lots of bars in Angel and really close to Shoreditch and central London for clubs and nightlife

Theres lots of fundraising type events to get involved in e.g. Race for Life and other active challenges. Theres also company netball and football teams and fitness classes (not free.) during the week. Also lots of networks, womens, BAME, LGBTQ+ etc that I think do more activities outside of work.