Commercial Intern Review

I absolutely loved my placement! I was fortunate to have a great team around me who supported me through my 11 months. The work

I felt really valued by my colleagues and was made to feel like like any other member of the team. This was great, as before my placement I was worried that being an intern would result in me being treated differently but this was not the case at all!

Heathrow's culture allows for a lot of autonomy with tasks, meaning that there's a lot of trust placed in you to make your own decisions which is great from a personal development perspective. That being said, whenever I needed support or guidance it was always available to me. I had weekly 1:1s with my manager during which we discussed anything that I may need support on; however, if ever I needed support on anything outside of 1:1s I could always approach my manager or other colleagues in my team.

For the first couple of weeks of my placement I wasn't very busy; however, the advantage of this was that it gave me time to settle into the business and get to know my team. Once I had settled in I was lucky enough to be given projects to lead on which meant that I was very busy. There were times where I wasn't quite so busy, but this was advantageous as it meant that I could use the time to explore other areas of the business and shadow people. This is one of the best things about completing an internship at Heathrow, you're given the flexibility to explore the business whether that be shadowing or taking up the opportunity to get involved in projects elsewhere in the business. Additionally, the interns complete an intern project from around January to May which is (usually) unrelated to your role. This is great, especially if your role isn't as busy.

I was fortunate to be given the lead on a number of projects; therefore, had a good amount of responsibility. My manager was very supportive of this and wanted to ensure that I was given the same amount of responsibility as others in my team. This was fantastic for my personal development as I was able to see two big projects through from start to finish. Ultimately this meant that I could take all the learnings from my first project and apply them to my second.

The skills that I gained whilst completing my placement at Heathrow are invaluable and I feel much more equipped to complete my final year of university (it's amazing how much you can fit into 8 hours of the day!!). Heathrow encourages a 'growth mindset' which is fantastic as you are always supported to complete training/development. This is one of the biggest takeouts for me this year as it's really changed the way that I view learning and encouraged me to learn more, both in the context of my degree but also with exploring my wider areas of interest. Heathrow also provide good opportunities to develop areas such as interview skills, CV coaching, and other areas related to applying for jobs. This is great as it has equipped me ready for applying for jobs post-university.

The Commercial floor plate (office area) has recently been renovated so is a lovely workspace. The office is vibrant and is accompanied by a sociable, friendly atmosphere. Commercial hot-desk, so each day you tend to sit in a different place with different people. This is great as it means that you get to know different members of your team really well! Although I think my favourite thing is that the office has runway views. Each Wednesday fresh fruit is delivered to the office and then Friday is treat day, so an array of treats such as chocolate and cakes is set out and free for you to take. Each month, there's a monthly huddle where the whole floor plate gather together and a team will 'takeover' to give an update. A member of the Exec also tends to come along to give a business update and host a Q&A. There are also themed days that the social team organise, for example for Halloween there was a pumpkin carving competition between all of the teams.

Overall the internship is really well organised. You complete your company induction on your first two days, followed by three days of familiarisation and team building activities with the intern cohort. In all the on-boarding process is really well thought through. In terms of organisation across the placement, again this is very well organised. There are monthly intern meeetings which lasted four hours and offered the chance to regroup with the cohort. Later in the year, this time was used for workshops such as careers workshops.

Heathrow place a fantastic focus on learning and development which I applaud them for. I was able to sign up for a number of courses, which were a mixture of online and face-to-face. There was even an instance where there was a course I wanted to do, which by default wasn't available to interns - the Learning and Development Team were more than happy to sign me up for this! There are also various online resources provided by Heathrow which give you access to a whole host of interesting material.

The prospect of future employment at Heathrow is very appealing! Given the variety of roles available at the airport, it's the kind of business that you could stay in for many years and get multiple opportunities to have a career change. Should I return, I personally would like to do the Future Leaders Programme.

The social scene was good although could have been better. Occasionally the interns would gather and go for drinks in Paddington; however, due to the fact that there aren't many bars etc. close to the office it was difficult to socialise spontaneously. My team would have away days in central London, which would involve work related activities in the morning, followed by a sociable team building task in the afternoon and drinks in the evening.

I lived in Ealing which is in West London. As with anywhere in London, the costs were quite high; however, Heathrow offer a good salary which meant that I was able to afford rent, bills, other living costs as well as being able to save and socialise regularly. Socials tended to take place towards Paddington, so expect standard London drinks prices (unless you can find a good happy hour!)

As with previous comments, there isn't much in the local area so in order to have a night out you would need to travel into central London. This was very easy though as the Heathrow Express only takes 15 minutes into Paddington and is free for Heathrow colleagues after 6pm.

There were a few opportunities to get involved with activities outside of work, some of the interns got involved in weekly football sessions. I personally didn't get involved in any activities like this as there wasn't anything that interested me, although I did make use of the free gym that is within then head office building.