Finance Intern Review

I loved my time with GE Aviation! it was the best decision I ever made. I enjoyed the fact I was able to try many different things and have an impact on numerous projects. I felt extremely protected as an intern yet at the same time felt I had to freedom to lead on projects. The variety and ability to experience so much of the business made the work extremely exciting. I have learnt so much in 14 months and would highly recommend GE Aviation to anyone.

I felt extremely valued by my team. I worked in a small team and we had a great relationship. I felt like I was a valued member of the team, I participated in the same projects as everyone else. I wasn't given easier tasks because I'm "just an intern". I was able to have tangible impacts on many of our processes and had significant contributions. From this, I was praised regularly and felt greatly appreciated.

I cannot speak highly enough of my manager. She was extremely protective of me the whole time. This avoided me being taken advantage of as an intern to do jobs that other people didnt want to do. She also told me my placement is for me to learn. This meant that she threw me in at the deep end yet made me feel very comfortable with the extensive support. I learnt so much from her and with her long contacts book met so many amazing people. She always made me feel appreciated and gave me monthly feedback on my performance. Best manager ever!!!!

I felt at GE that i was always busy yet never stressed. I was able to be apart of many important projects, these took up most of my time. Yet at the same time, I had some other work that was more casual. It meant that any downtime I could revisit the more casual projects to keep me busy. GE also has many amazing training guides, I used many of these in any spare moments I had. Most importantly to me, I took a course on Excel and now feel extremely confident with it. I was also able to block out time on my diary to do university coursework.

I was given the same responsibilities as the rest of the people I worked with. I wasnt seen as less reliable because i was an intern. But this came down the me, my boss would've been happy for me to take on less if i was less confident. It was very flexible but I felt confident and took the lead as often as I could. I had the safety net with their experience keeping an eye on things.

The biggest thing about placement is the numerous skills you gain. I am now far more confident with Microsoft office e.g. excel etc. My communicstions and many soft skills are now far better than ever. All the training I have recieved as well as given me some amazing business insights too. I am yet to finish my degree but I feel so much more confident heading into my final year of university. I am now more motivated and far more organised. The best thing for me about this placement is it gave me a break from revising. I am now rejuvenated for my final year of uni.

The atmosphere was always fun. Actually working from home for the end of my placement made me realise how much more enjoyable it is. I worked with some amazing people so it was a lot of fun. It was the perfect blend of professional yet conversational. It was clear everyone had important things to do yet everyone was approachable and would be happy to help. It gave me a great insight into how big organisations function.

The placement was set up pretty well. There was a clear role that I was there to fill so I always knew my role and responsibilities. Alongside this, there was an extensive network of other interns. Through this, we were able to have intern social and work-related events. This made the joining process far easier and helped me network with likeminded people. The HR team are very good at dealing with all the intern onboarding process too.

The whole placement I never stopped training. Whether that was learning more about my job or other people jobs around the business. There was a large time spent on my personal development throughout the year. My manager encouraged me at every opportunity to keep learning and it was amazing. I had teaching sessions with people, i had solo training and i attended workshops on specific things. I had the opportunity to learn so much during this placement.

At my site in particular except form engineering graduates there isn't really a pathway for graduates. So i don't see the prospects that appealing, at least not straight from university. But i do find some of the GE Healthcare programs appealing as they have a specific grad scheme that suits me perfectly. So I would love to work back at GE in Cheltenham but they don't offer the professional qualifications i would be looking for.

The socialising was pretty good. There was a network of interns, many of whom lived together. So social events were regular and easy to get invited to as there was an intern group chat. The social events range from nights our to going on walks and bowling. There really was a range so even those who didn't like to drink could still fell included. The network of interns was around 40-50ish so there was plenty of people.

I was fortunate enough to be living at home the whole year so I'm unsure the cost of living. I do know cheltenham fairly well so i do know its not the cheapest. But most of the interns house shared and it didn't work out too expensive. It was comparable to a shared university house. The wage covered rent and bills easily so no need to worry about the cost of living too much despite cheltenham being slightly pricer than some places.

Cheltenham is really good for bars and pubs. But the clubs aren't anything special. But going out with mates or workmates you could easily have a great time in Cheltenham. Many of the bars are buzzing and some of the cocktail places are great too. The town is particularly busy around the Cheltenham races, then it gets crazy. Cheltenham is a very nice place and there is endless things to do so you won't get bored.

There were some opportunities with the extensive network of interns there was always something going on. I also had the opportunity to join the work football team and play football with some of the work lots on weekday nights right after work. There isn't really a guarentee that there will be alot going on but it depends on the friends you make when you're here. A lot of people here are very friendly so its very easy to make friends.