Business Resilience Intern Review

My work placement was very enjoyable due to the fact that the team were amazing, from day 1 I felt like a valued member of the team and they were all so easy to get along with. I also enjoyed the type of work which I have been doing and realised that I would like to continue a career in Business Continuity.

During my placement I did not feel like an intern I felt like a valued team member and was praised and rewarded for the work I made. The team also treated me like a human and were interested about my personal life and family.

Within the first month of my placement I was taking part in a training course and taking the exam to become certified in the business continuity institute. This course was very relevant to my business as usual activities and helped me understand my placement more. My manager (and any other team member) were always happy to answer any questions I had and support me where they could.

There was quite a lot of variation with regards to how busy I was - some days were extremely busy and I had back to back meetings all day whereas others were slower. Ideally the balance could have been a bit better, for example a more even pace everyday not to busy or too slow.

It would depend on the work, there were some meetings which I would run on my own and work with my peers to support them in the completion of a plan. There were also times when I would support my manager in her projects. I believe that I was given the right level of responsibility, I wasn't left to completely do what I wanted but I was also not micro-managed. I was also given quite a lot of responsibility when I was asked to re-launch there internal intranet site, this involved leading a project to redesign the site to ensure that it met the new criteria.

I have constantly been able to develop new and existing skills during my placement. I feel as though I am now a much more confident networker due to the network events I have had the opportunity to attend. I have also learnt have to better prioritise my workloads depending on which task is more important.

There was a brilliant atmosphere in the office it was always sociable but at the same time professional. The team always knew when someone was really busy and to let them get on with there work. If you went to work in a bad mood your would always leave in a better one.

For the majority of the placement there were no issues at all. The only time which there could have been better organisation would have been at the beginning as I had technology missing and my manager was not in the office.

As I said before the company paid for my CBCI training and exam which is an industry recognised qualification. My manager was also supportive of my university work and allowed me to have time to work on that. There are also a number of online courses provided through the company which I have been able to take part in.

I would love to work within this team in the future, or even the company, unfortunately as the team is only small it may not be possible to secure a position with them. That being said both my line manager and senior manager have said they would love to have me back.

Within our team there was a good social scene, we would go out for dinner for people's birthday's or if someone had left, sometimes there did not need to be a reason. With regards to socialising with other placement students there were a few lunches and volunteering events which were organised, but it was quite difficult as we were spread across multiple offices.

The cost of living and socialising was neither cheap nor expensive, obviously this depends on where you shopped/went out.

I am not your typical student, I am in bed before 10 so I do not know what nightlife is.

If you wanted to take part in activities outside of work there were several opportunities to do so.