CIMD Summer Analyst Review

Overall, my internship has been an enjoyable experience. Short term, there were challenges of adapting to the work lifestyle as I transitioned from university, but long term, it was a great development opportunity which has helped focus my career. I found my division exciting and the culture of the team inspiring. It was great for me to build strong working relationships with the team and they seemed to enjoy the enthusiasm that us interns brought!

The office environment was supportive and my colleagues would appreciate any help I gave. When I presented in a large meeting, it was nice to have an excited atmosphere afterwards and people told me and the other interns how much they enjoyed the presentations. In meetings, I felt I had a voice and my team appreciated any questions I asked or insight I gave.

The support that my manager gave was fantastic. I was new to the business area that I was placed in, but he didn't mind teaching me the foundations and was supportive with any questions that I had. When I had an important presentation to deliver, my manager and others would check over my ppt deck and give me tips on how I was presenting. I really appreciated my colleagues taking time out of his diary to do this and it demonstrates the support I was given. HCM and other supervisors were also available and I always felt I had someone to turn to if I had a query.

It was a great balance. If I felt my work load was falling, there was always another project to pick up. It was fun to interact and work with the wider team and it kept me busy!

This differed depending on the projects I was given. Some projects were more research driven Overall, I felt the work I completed was meaningful & I had responsibility to manage my work load, prioritise and produce each deliverable.

I would say that the skills I developed are primarily work and professional focused. I learnt how to improve my professional self and be concise when presenting and asking questions. I have developed networking skills which will help me whilst I am at university and also later on in adult working life. My written communication skill definitely improved as I was given projects related to this, matched with helpful feedback. Beyond student life, I have a greater awareness of the demands of corporate working and the personality traits you have to develop in order to thrive in this environment. This was important to recognise.

The atmosphere was fun and collaborative- I never felt daunted to ask someone to help me with a project & it was great to work with a supportive team. There was a good balance of chatting and getting work done. On a Friday we dressed down and overall, I really enjoyed the office environment!

Very well organised. Really impressed with the itinerary of the first few weeks and a lot of time must have been put into the organisation of the internship -so I felt extremely grateful for that. There were also really well organised social events both with my team and the intern group.

I had hour sessions with most people in my team with an action packed first 3 weeks of training sessions. This was a great introduction to the business and meant that I got to know the dynamics of my role fairly quickly. Having sessions with so many of the team members also made the team extremely approachable. The wider GS training was less extensive and I felt I had less of an overview of the whole firm.

Very appealing. The opportunity to work in this division would be exciting as I go into my final year of university.

The interns in my division were up for socialising and it was fun to go out with them at the weekend. It was nice to build both a personal and professional relationship with a number of people and be able to chat about our individual experiences. There were also group chats so it was easy to arrange plans if you fancied it!

Living costs were expensive but if you don't mind living slightly outside of London then it is better. Personally, I lived only a 20 minute commute away which brought costs up. There's also no Aldi or Lidl in the city centre which made food shop quite expensive! Socialising is expensive in London but worth it for some fantastic experiences!

Living in London meant there was always weekend plans & the nightlife in the local area was really fun.

Not as much but they put on a welcome and farewell event for the interns.