Summer intern Review

I have found this internship reasonably enjoyable due to the encouragement to try a large range of work and the team that I was in. Working in various groups such as Private business was completely different to the work I helped with in Research and development. Some of the tasks were really interesting such as being able to shadow a partner or go on a R&D client visit. Obviously some of the work was not as interesting as I would have liked, but this is bound to happen even in a full-time job. For me this wasn't the best due to the type of work. If I found myself enjoying the work that was available then this would have been given a higher score. A large contributing factor to the higher rating was my team and the general atmosphere in the office. Everyone was willing to help and friendly including a large amount of social event which gave a chance to get to know everyone.

I felt extremely valued by my colleagues. After completing work they always were thankful and would give feedback promptly. On the internship it was focussed on receiving feedback so that the decision could be made at the end for a job offer. Therefore colleagues were understanding and often took no more than a few days to submit feedback which I could then discuss with my manager which was helpful. This feedback proved that I was valued by my colleagues as they were positive and grateful for the help.

Throughout my placement at PwC I was given a buddy and a career coach. However, from the beginning my buddy wasn't around due to exams and holidays. When my buddy was there they were extremely helpful and useful. Although they were helpful when in the office most of the time I was without a buddy and I felt that this could have been addressed before I had joined. Although this had happened, my career coach took on the role and met with me once a week for me to ask any questions. This gave me a good amount of support and guidance from my manager.

Most days I had work to complete, you usually find a couple of people in the office who are willing to give you a great deal of work which is helpful. Other colleagues may just give you a small amount of work for a day or so. Overall though I had work to do on a daily basis, this helped and often I was given tasks to do when I was not as busy and could do in the background.

Understandably I was given limited responsibility. As the work usually completed in the office required the passing of a large number of exams, someone like me with very little experience could hardly complete detailed pieces of work. I usually assisted others work and observed what others were doing. When I did complete work this would be checked over and send back with potential improvements, which did help me learn.

I can't really comment on how much it has helped my degree and beyond as I have only just completed my internship. However I do see this helping put my financial modules into a relevant context. Furthermore experiencing a work environment and working in a team with your colleagues will also help when looking in the future at other jobs.

The office has a great atmosphere. Not too quiet but not too loud either. Colleagues often have a chat and they are always open to questions. There are quite a few colleagues who use the video calls while at their desks and take calls there as well. However if you don't like this you can go into a booth for phone calls or quickly book a meeting room.

The internship began in London with a three day induction. This was brilliantly organised and ran very smoothly. This was a great chance to network and was in quite a chilled environment which made it even better. However once returning to our offices, there was no set structure for the internship. You set your goals for the internship and then just asked for work off colleagues. This is something I felt could be improved as a more well structure internship would mean all students would benefit from the same activities etc. In my case though this worked well as I was given a decent amount of work, however the previous intern had very little work at times.

I feel a large amount of investment was made on the interns, the cost of the induction alone shows how much they care about retaining interns. This induction developed relevant skills for the workplace and gave great opportunities to network. During my placement this was much the same as I was given the opportunity to shadow the partner on client visits. Most of the team took time out of their busy days to teach me something about their area and gave me all the background knowledge needed for the tasks they set.

For many the future prospects are amazing, with the potential of a graduate job offer straight after university. This would be in the same line of service and office as you did your internship in. For me it wasn't as appealing due to me not thinking the work fitted my interests. However they do have options to transfer to other programmes if you are not enjoying the line of service but wish to stay with the firm, which is a great bonus.

The office has a great social scene with monthly quizzes, meals and drinks. These all give you the opportunity to get to know your colleagues and also to take a break from work. This was just in my team, if you had other hobbies it is basically guaranteed that you could find another team doing that as well. The other interns were great and we organised a large amount of socials. We always met up for lunch which gave us a break from work and a chance to chat.

The rent in the area was quite expensive, given that I came at the most popular time of the year this wouldn't have helped though. It was also rather difficult finding accommodation in the first place because of the timing. Food and drink was mostly reasonable, on par with most other cities, with some exceptions. Transport was really good and reasonably priced, although the student offer only works with local students which was a massive let down as that increased the price significantly.

The nightlife is great, one of the more expensive nights out I've had but this is because we couldn't pre drink beforehand as I lived further away from the centre. Most pubs have a good atmosphere and I only ever went in two clubs both of which were packed by around 12. The night bus also helps a lot, although quite infrequent so you'll have to time your exit.

PwC offers a wide variety of activities outside of work, from football to meditation. Most have a cost attached but this is reduced from the original price you would normally have to pay. I personally never got involved in any of these, but other interns did and there seems to be good turn outs for the activities. You can always ask members of your team if they want to get involved or if they recommend anything as there is a lot to choose from.