Intern Review

I really enjoyed the work involved in the role. At first I felt a bit like I was there to pick up admin work that nobody really wanted to do (!) rather than a Management Intern but I addressed this with my manager and this was resolved. While it was not entirely what I expected in terms of responsibilities, it was very customer service based which I enjoyed. I would have liked to gain a bit more experience in decision making and planning (like the exercise completed on the assessment day).

My manager, the other MTs and the garage staff were all really helpful and supportive and after a couple of weeks I felt like a member of the team.

My manager was really supportive and helpful throughout, and the two MTs were always there if I needed to ask a question - they made the placement a much more enjoyable experience. Not all staff were as supportive which sometimes made me feel a bit useless or an annoyance but the more positive staff members very much cancelled that out!

Some days were very quiet and some days were super busy. Most of the time it balanced well - ie. during busy times there wouldnt be a chance to do callbacks or pends but then in the quiet periods there was the chance to catch up on yourself.

I expected to be given more responsibility than I was. While I was 'in charge' of certain things, eg. closed pends, I didn't get much opportunity to make decisions or assist in planning which I think would be a hugely important part of being a MT or Assistant Manager.

My communication and organisational skills have been greatly improved by my placement. I have also had the opportunity to develop my customer service skills further, which is very much a transferable skill that will apply to anything I do in the future.

It varied greatly from day to day. Sometimes the atmosphere was great and people seemed happy to be there but other days it was very low and not a very nice place to be! It is very influenced by peoples moods.

Overall, the internship was set up well and was organised effectively.

The company does seem to genuinely value employee development and I saw a lot of that during my internship - from the orientation week, the presentation day and the training folder. Also, the chance to spend time in various departments of interest was impressive.

This is something I would definitely like to pursue at the moment and intend to continue in part time employment during my last year.

After the intern presentations, a few of us went out in town which was great. At the moment we are trying to arrange a date for a few of us to go out somewhere central before going back to uni. The social scene with colleagues was non existant!

Being from the area, this was not really an issue for me. While it is not particularly cheap or expensive, its what Im used to!

The nightlife wasnt great but I was aware of this long before my placement!

There was talk of this but nothing ever happened about it.