Talent Development and Recruitment Intern Review

My internship at CRUK has exceeded my expectations. I have been made to feel like a valued member of the team since day one and have always felt like my opinions and inputs are listened too and taken on board. The work I was given was well thought out and have ensured that I've experienced a range of projects throughout my internship which have given me a deep and interesting insight into the world of Talent Development.

As mentioned before, I have been made to feel so welcome and valued by all my colleagues, from a range of seniority levels. I have been encouraged to speak up in meetings and i've been made to feel like my voice is just as important as anyone else's - which is so special when you are an intern. Within my first 2 weeks, my line manager booked in multiple catch ups with various people in order for me to get that initial exposure and to discuss through project work with them. All of these people happily gave up their time to meet with me, discuss my projects with me and answer any questions i had, big or small!

I have never worked in such an approachable environment. I have had weekly catch ups with my Line manager which has ensured regular catch ups that centred around both personal and professional development throughout the process of my internship. In addition to this, the open and communicative culture here at CRUK has enabled me to approach all members of my team at any time with relevant questions. 100% of the time they have taken the time to advise, guide and help me wherever they can. I will always be grateful for this.

My workload, fundraising activities and project work was well thought out and perfectly filled my time throughout my internship. Midway through I felt like I i wanted to be challenged further with my time management and fed this back to my Line Manager. This was instantly taken on board and a variety of interesting adhoc tasks we sent my way to work on as an extra throughout the remainder of my internship. Although this made me very busy, it perfectly enabled me to further develop my time management ability which was exactly what I asked my line manager to support with.

I was given a mixture of responsibilities throughout my internship - Self led projects with minimal guidance from managers enabled me to take full responsibility and ownership over the outcome of the work. Involvement in already existing projects and work groups enabled me to have shared responsibilities alongside my colleagues - As part of these processes, I was made to feel just as valued, accountable and responsible as anyone else.

In terms of next steps, the skills I've developed during my internship at CRUK will help me throughout my whole career. The self-confidence that I have gained in my abilities will help me invaluably throughout future work and networking. My first insight into HR and the charity sector has helped me to solidify which career path I would like to take going forward and I will be able to build on the amazing foundations that CRUK have given me.

The atmosphere in my team was great, everyone has been so friendly and welcoming whilst also being hard workers which encourages you to do so as an intern! The atmosphere tended to vary from team to team regarding the rest of the organisation.

My internship experience was incredibly well organised. My projects and work were laid out and explained to me at the start and I have been guided and able to complete all the work and projects throughout the course of the internship. Catch ups about the various projects were already in my diary prior to starting and key project milestones were discussed extensively throughout the course of the internship - I was offered guidance and support wherever needed. Intern training sessions were organised and provided throughout the internship which was also a really good way of getting the intern cohort back together regularly.

CRUK have invested so much time and effort into my personal development. This has come from my line manager and wider team. Offering support where they can with projects but also more personalised support when I have asked for it - For example, various members of the recruitment team have given up their time to offer advice and answer any questions I had about job applications and interviews etc. The team could also not make me feel more supported with my next steps are this role. Although there is not a position available in my team, they are all (my line manager especially) are taking an avid interest in how i'm getting on with job applications and are offering support and advice wherever they can.

I am so keen to stay within CRUK but it's all just based on what entry level positions are available. However, the communicative and cross org culture of CRUK is enabling me to be open minded about positions because I know I will get broad exposure across teams in a lot of the roles. I love the culture and what the org represents and I would be proud to be employed by them going forward.

As Interns we made a real effort to meet up for lunches in the canteen and keep up to date over group chats. We also organised 2 socials out in Stratford during the course of the internship - This was a fun way for us all to get to know each other better. As mentioned previously, The early careers team also organised intern training sessions throughout the course of the internship which was a really good way for us all to regroup and catch up often.

I lived about an hour from the office so can't comment on living costs. Socialising is expensive but that's just London! But it didn't seem to deter us interns from meeting for lunch and organising socials.

There's lots of cool bars and restaurants in Stratford, The interns enjoyed having ping pong bars and bowling alleys to go to as part of our socials.

As mentioned previously, the interns arranged lunches and socials where possible. However this was arranged completely ourselves rather than being encouraged by work.