project management intern Review

Honestly, I didn't particularly enjoy the internship. If I had known what it was going to be like before I signed the contract, I would never have decided to undertake the internship. The work is very monotonous and boring and I didn't feel that I had the chance to progress or develop. I also didn't like the general attitude towards interns - I didn't feel that they were particularly valued. However, I did make some friends for life. If it wasn't for the other interns and friends that I made at the company, I wouldn't have lasted as long as I did. At least I now know that the translation industry is not the right one for me!

Some of my colleagues were great. It wasn't that others were horrible to me, but there was just a general feeling in the office that interns were considered very much, bottom of the pile and that their only role was to QA translations. It would have also helped if interns had more flexibility over whether they were able to work from home.

I don't feel like I received much support or guidance. I don't feel like there was a plan in place at all. The first few months, I didn't know what I was supposed to be doing until later on that day. There was no forward planning. There was also no develop plan. I didn't feel that I learnt a great deal. I have spent most of my internship quality assuring documents. However, I feel that it varies greatly depending on the team!

It really depended on the day. It is an industry where you can't predict how much work is going to come in, so you never quite know how busy you are going to be from one day to the next. I often went from feeling bored, to feeling too busy.

Not a great deal! I definitely would have enjoyed and valued the placement more if I had been given a greater deal of responsibility. I spent the majority of the four and a half months that I spent at the company doing QA checks. I would have loved to have managed more of my own projects.

The only good thing to come out of the internship skills wise, is that it was my first experience working in an office and is something that I can put on my CV. However, I am now going into a completely different field and don't feel that my QA skills are going to assist me in my future role.

Where I was, it was very quiet. I found it strange that people mostly communicated online, even when they were only a few meters apart, instead of going over to talk to physically talk to that person. It would have been nicer if people interacted a bit more. There was also a real lack of natural light. However, it was nice to have the radio on!

I don't think that the internship was particularly well set-up. Even though the initial interview and on-boarding went reasonably smoothly, I didn't feel that my team had a plan in place for me. It would have been nice if they had been more flexible about working from home and about the start and finish time each day.

There was no personal training or development. It was clear that the company was only hiring interns as cheap labour, to do the QAing that needed doing. I was surprised at the number of interns there were in the company. It would make more sense to use the internship as a training period, so that those interns that want to stay on, are prepared for a permanent role.

I am pretty sure that I would never work for this organisation again. I don't think they invest enough in their staff (salaries/personal development). There is a real feeling that everyone is there because they need a job, rather than having a real love for the organisation.

I was lucky that all the other interns were really lovely and I got on well with all of them. There wasn't a huge social scene, but I tried to organise monthly meet-ups when possible to escape the office environment for a bit! We didn't have a lot to spend on going out!

The cost of living and socialising was really high because it was in London. I wouldn't have been able to do the internship if I wasn't living at home as we were only played minimum intern wage (lower than the living wage in London). I don't know how other interns survived - those who were away from their families. However, out of the bars/restaurants that I managed to try during my internship, I was really impressed. It was a great area for food!

I never really got to try it out, so I wouldn't be able to judge. As we finished every day at six, and I had a long journey home, I was reluctant to stay out too late. Plus, I didn't have much disposable income to spend on 'going out' unfortunately.

Before I joined, there wasn't a social network in place for interns. I set up a group with all the other interns, and organised a fun outing each month to escape the office for a bit. It was a really good chance to get to know some of the other interns a bit better!