Finance intern Review

I really enjoyed my internship in the Sky finance department. I feel like I have learnt a lot from my 5 weeks there even though it had to be run virtually. I got to know other interns and worked together with them on projects. I enjoyed learning about finance and working with people in the finance department and also in other departments. It was hard at first to get to know people over video but it came naturally after the first week.

Everyone at Sky was really welcoming and made me feel valued even as an intern. My colleagues were friendly and made an effort to get to me when I joined. I was made to feel part of the team from the first week and really enjoyed working with different people. Initially I found it a bit awkward to introduce myself on video chats but they were all interested in getting to know me. Overall I had an excellent impression of the people that work at Sky.

I was surprised at how much time more senior members of my team had put aside to help me understand the work I was given. I felt that I was supported from the beginning of the internship and knew that I could contact various people if I needed help. I never felt like I was given a piece of work and left to do it by myself without any help. My line manager in particular was friendly and approachable and was happy to answer any questions I had.

At the beginning of the internship I was not very busy and sometimes felt like I could have been given more to do. I also feel that I could have been more proactive in asking people for work if I had none. However from the second week onwards it felt like I had more of a structure and my days were a good balance. I think it was a bit harder to always have work to do because of the virtual aspect.

I was not given much responsibility during my internship as I did not know anything about finance before starting. I actually preferred it this way as there was no pressure to do everything right and I could make mistakes while learning. I did get to work on various things for my team that would have been useful for them. I think that it was the right amount of responsibility to give to someone just starting out.

I feel like I have learnt a great deal from the 5 weeks I was there. I learnt a lot of soft skills such as making presentations, how to present well and setting up virtual meetings. It was useful to talk to colleagues in a business setting and learn how to comport myself. Otherwise, I learnt a lot about the finance industry and in particular I spent a lot of time on excel and learnt a lot o how to use it.

The atmosphere was friendly and young within my team. I had daily meetings over video with my team and they made sure we had some socialising even though we were all working from home. There was a Friday drinks and quiz which was fun and enjoyable. It was about the right mix between relaxed and serious. People were serious about their work but also could have a joke. As we were working from home we could dress casually too.

The internship was very well structured. From the beginning when we received the news that we had successfully got a place on the internship, we were contacted regularly to update us on the covid-19 situation and what was happening with the internship. We were assigned buddy's who were graduates on our team and also a line manager. This meant that I knew who to go to if I had any questions or problems with my work.

I feel like the experience with Sky was very personal and it felt like they cared about our personal development and learning. I learnt a lot on LinkedIn learning and other online learning platforms we were given access too. In the first week we were also given talks on soft skills such as presenting and making a good impression. I learnt a lot about excel and how a finance department within a company is structured and run.

I think future employment prospects are fairly appealing. I really enjoyed my time there and would like to have a graduate place with them as I have seen that they are a great company that really cares about their employees. I do not have an experience working in their Osterley campus and I would like to have that office experience as I think it would be social and convivial. I have spoken to graduates on the programme and they do a 3 year rotation scheme getting to work in 3 different teams.

As the internship was run virtually, there was not a very good social scene amongst the other interns and colleagues. However, it was about as good as it could have been considering the covid-19 situation. From what my colleagues were saying there is normally a good work and social life balance in the office. There are days where the team get together to do an activity or get food. There are also socials organised between the graduates.

As Sky is located in Osterley in Isleworth the prices are lower than central London but not cheap either. It is also cheaper than renting a room in central London. There are decent public transport links to West and South West London but the trains and tubes can get quite expensive if you are using them everyday. The pubs in general are cheaper than you would get in central London but more expensive than other parts of England.

The closest nightlife I can think of is in Kingston which is not too far but it is not very close to the Osterley office. There are a lot of pubs and a big student community around Kingston. There are some clubs such as Pryzm, the Viper rooms and the hippodrome. The Wetherspoons there is also normally full of young people and has a good atmosphere. However you would have to get an uber back to your accommodation or public transport as there are no clubs very close to Isleworth.

As I was working from home because it was a virtual internship there were pretty much no opportunities to get involved in activities that took place outside of work and working hours. However, we were given the opportunity of going into the office and campus for the day but I did not take it. Normally there would have been social opportunities and there are days put aside to socialise with your team and go for a drink.