Finance Intern Review

On a day-to-basis, I would prepare balance sheet reconciliations, validate and approve journals, and clear entries in the bank. I would work mostly following a monthly task list, with most of my tasks falling once within each month. Sometimes, I would prepare the journals myself, providing the relevant backup, other times it would be sent to me from various finance teams. I was also involved in refreshing balance sheets, and running reports on various different systems. I also had ad hoc tasks including raising manual invoices, working on certain new projects, and running quarterly calls for closing calendars/checklists/issues.

One skill I have definitely developed is my computer skills. This is mainly on Microsoft Excel, learning shortcuts, running formulas, and using new macros, although I have also been exposed to a lot of new systems including SAP and MicroStrategy. I have also gained confidence in speaking to new people, participating in, and leading calls, because Disney is a very social and integrated company. I have also developed my email etiquette, as sending emails and meeting invites are an every day occurrence.

Yes, I feel that we were given a good amount of responsibility. Although a lot of my tasks were checked, especially on a quarterly basis, I had several journals that I prepared, posted, and cleared on my own. I was also given the responsibility to lead calls, with a variety of my team members, other people in the business, and with external parties. I also picked up more tasks as I progressed through my internship and became more knowledgeable in the role, which I think highlights the responsibility I was given.

At the start, the placement was very difficult as there is so much knowledge to absorb. However, I also has a lot of support during this time and throughout the whole year. Everyone on my team was always very happy to help and I find this was also the case across the whole business. I had weekly catch up calls with my supervisors, plus monthly catch up calls with my managers, where we would discuss any feedbacks/positives/issues/areas for improvement, as well as my career development.

Overall, the company culture is very positive. There were countless company events for new film releases, South Asian Heritage month, Mental Health Aware week, and much more. Almost everyone I interacted with were friendly and happy to help with any questions I had, plus helping to develop my skills. The general atmosphere only changed towards the end of my internship, when it was announced that we would be a transitioning to a 4-day working week in the office, plus there were 7,000 redundancies announced across the company. This definitely negatively affected the atmosphere, but overall it was still positive.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my placement. I think there was a very good balance of social opportunities, workload, and task challenged. I have made friends for life and would definitely recommend the Disney placement to other people. In particular, I enjoyed the intern events, as we had over 200 interns and this creates a very nice small community within the company. I also appreciated how my team and managers were very focused on giving me the best opportunities as possible and allowing me to gain lots of exposure.

Yes

I would advise to do lots of research on the company before applying. Although you don't need to be Disney super fan in order to apply, it is beneficial to have knowledge on the company, the different lines of business, and the current or recent films/events/releases happening. Also, to be yourself in the interview, and be willing to learn. Having been involved in the interview process for the next cohort of interns, we particularly looked for people who would fit into the team and pick up tasks and knowledge quickly.