Intern Review

Overall was in a great, friendly and relaxed team - they did not feel the need to 'use the intern for all the boring grunt work', I actually contributed significant value with my project, which I also found very interesting and rewarding.

The team (and surrounding teams) were very welcoming, particularly my boss. I got to know them both at work and in the pub. I also felt that the work I did was very valued.

My boss was never too busy to talk to me or discuss my project and where I should go. Similarly, everyone else on the team was always keen to answer my questions and support me.

I was kept pretty busy, with a combination of my project and with day to day tasks. It wasn't forced on me though, I simply did all the work I had to do, when I wanted to do it, and enjoyed doing it!

I was given lots of responsibility in that I was doing something totally new which would later be used by the team, and I was able to develop into one of the most knowledgeable people in the business, on that topic.

I actually applied a lot of the academic skills I already have for university, but it was useful to learn how to deal with a long term project, as I have only ever had short term weekly assignments at uni and school, and this will help me with my upcoming thesis! Otherwise I felt I already had many of the skills that were required, and it was simply a matter of honing them.

Obviously a lot of the time everyone is just getting on with their work or talking to clients, but I was lucky to be sat with two teams who were pretty relaxed and jokey, especially during the olympics when we all had a good time!

As you would expect of an organisation of this size, the internship machine is well greased and runs pretty well, with occasional small hiccups. We had plenty of professional and social events organised for us and got to know many parts of the company and various (often quite senior!) people.

This comes down to who your line manager is, as the training at the start of the programme is kept short so that you can hit your desk and crack on with meaningful work. My boss invested quite a lot on getting me up to speed. The company as a whole invested a fair amount, but it wasn't like we were constantly kept busy with training and classes, which I think is a good thing!

I would love to get a job here - yet to find out though!

The interns are a pretty varied bunch (there are a lot of us!). The other interns in my part of the company were pretty good, we would often have lunch together and went to the pub a few times. No wild partying though.

It's not cheap, but then you're compensated handsomely so it's not so bad... I was also lucky to find a cheap room nearby, it was a lot more expensive for some people...

I only say awesome because I had a great night in a nearby club for a 21st - also my standards are quite low...

This is the only downside - I did end up working longer hours than I expected and had to limit my fitness training (I usually train min 6 times a week).