Public Affairs Intern

I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Atos - from living in London for a year to making friends for life, I'd do it all over again if I could. The team around me were extremely welcoming and I really appreciated the Graduate, Intern and Apprentice community. Although it's a large company with vast amounts of people going in and out of the London office, I met so many friendly people throughout my time there.

My colleagues were the main reason my time at Atos was so fantastic. My line manager and team couldn't have been more welcoming to begin with and helpful throughout my time there, and the wider team were all incredible. I felt valued throughout my whole time at Atos, through the highs and the lows.

My line manager found the perfect balance between being over-supportive and under-supportive. I knew he was there when I needed assistance, but I never felt as though I was being monitored 24/7 and I was left to get on with my work. We had frequent team catch-ups which worked really well in order to get any queries answered and keep in touch.

My particular job had really busy periods and then periods where I wasn't so busy, but there was always something to get on with. I had my own projects to complete throughout the year, but also assisted others with their work. The busy periods were never overwhelming, however they did teach me how to work under times of pressure.

I was surprised by how much responsibility I would have, and I really appreciated this. There were the obvious sign-off levels certain things had to go through, but I was able to make my own decisions on many occasions and felt as though I didn't have someone watching over me at all times. This being said, I didn't feel pressure in having to make these decisions, and had someone to help if needed.

As a Politics student, I learnt vast amounts about the day-to-day workings of British politics that my degree didn't go into detail about. I think this will help significantly in my final year and later in my career. As well as this, as someone who hasn't studied Business, I feel as though I've grasped a good knowledge of how a business such as Atos works and, again, think this will assist me later in life.

The London office had a great atmosphere, particularly due to the hot-desk layout. This meant that you'd meet people from all areas of the business easily and also means that you could find a quiet space when you had busier periods of work. The design of the office meant that there were multiple different types of seating to suit your mood.

The intern before me provided a great 6-week handover as he was asked to extend. Once he left, I felt 100% comfortable in my job role. There was set tasks I had to complete, but these tasks were ongoing which meant I could get involved in other areas of Communications and also the GIA (Graduate, Intern and Apprentice) community.

There was online training available to me, but as far as I am aware, nothing specific to my job role.

I'm interested in future employment prospects within the organisation and would love to work for Atos in the future.

The Graduate, Intern and Apprentice community at Atos was excellent and had many things that you could get involved in, from socials to debating to practice pitching. As well as this, my fellow placement students and all got along really well and I know that we'll be friends for life.

London is expensive to live and socialise in, but I think everyone knows this before they live there. I had to budget somewhat, but never found that I wasn't able to go for drinks after work or have a Nando's with the team every so often! The pros of living and working in London definitely outweighed the cons for me.

There was a Wetherspoon's right opposite work and plenty of bars nearby. The London office is close to 2 tube stations and plenty of bus stops so you've got access to plenty of areas in London.

The GIA community hosted plenty of socials, however many of these involved drinking. I think more sports socials would have been great, but I never had anything to complain about. My team and I frequently did things outside of work too.