Intern Review

I had an amazing time working with a wonderful team given some great responsibility from day one.

I was/am the youngest team member and this organisation has a demographic of older workers yet I was very welcome and fit right in, and never treated any differently - with a few age jokes hear and there.

I had a line manager in charge of me and he was very open and supportive. I would constantly call him if I needed help with the littlest thing. Other supervisors in the team I was in, were always there to give a hand and help me get used to such a different working environment.

My manager had given me 3 huge projects that I was solely responsible for and had to construct a time plan of dates and deadlines that I was suited to, so I worked during that in my own time. Most days I would be busy, attending meetings, teleconferences, working on the projects or handling emails. Definitely got busier during the second half of the internship as everything eventually fell into place.

A lot of responsibility for all the individuals projects but also given support and names to contact to help me get through it. I certainly feel I was challenged and that was enjoyable and made this experience worthwhile.

I learnt how to work in a different working environment which has its own norms and ways. This was great to give me the step up and flavour of what I will experience once I graduate from University. Time management was a key skill I learnt. I wasn't given as much training as it was not required for the type of team I was in. There is a great deal of security and confidentiality involved working in HMRC so there were some restrictions hence was not able to train up to that level. But the limited training and endless skills will definitely help me with my degree too especially when doing my dissertation that will require research and analysis as well as presentational skills.

It was always quite relaxed yet hectic. People have their own headsets so could have teleconferences so people tend to be busy, but you would always find moments where the team randomly gather and have random chats and also shout across the room! Definitely enjoyable, and a great team spirit an family-like atmosphere with regularly biscuits, cakes, sweets and chocolate bought in - celebration or not!

First time HMRC recruited interns through the Cabinet Office and Fast Stream Civil Service so the first few days encountered a few technical issues of being set up onto the system, but apart from that it went well. I was also mentioned in the first business note issued so everyone knew who I was - especially as the team is so big that it is set up in 4 major cities.

It was difficult to be trained but I was given a range of experience and given the opportunity to have subsidised travel so there was money invested in that for sure. I travelled to London many times, Sheffield and Nottingham to meet other team members, board directors, attend interest meetings and shadow.

Unfortunately I do no get fast tracked for a grad job, but would love to work for the organisation or the team I worked in again.

I was the only intern in this office so technically no. But I socialised with other team mates who had been on the team for years. We celebrated birthdays and also went to a local pub a few times.

I stayed in my hometown and worked in the local office. So cost of living for me was basically cheap and free. Socialising is good too, with many clubs and bars.

Nightlife is really good, with many bars and clubs

Very little if anything.