This review was submitted over 4 years ago, so some of the information it contains may no longer be relevant.
Rating
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The Role
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The Company
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The Culture
- 1. To what extent did you enjoy your work placement or internship?
- 2. To what extent did you feel valued by your colleagues?
- 3. To what extent were you given support and guidance by management/your supervisor(s)?
- 4. How busy were you on a daily basis?
- 5. How much responsibility were you given during your placement?
- 6. To what extent did/will the skills you developed, and training you received, assist you in your degree studies and beyond?
- 7. What was the general atmosphere in your office?
- 8. How well organised was the overall work placement or internship set up?
- 9. In terms of personal training and development, to what extent did the company or firm invest in you?
- 10. What were the perks on your work placement?
- 11. How appealing are future employment prospects within the organisation?
- 12. Was there a good social scene amongst any fellow placement students/colleagues?
- 13. What was the cost of living and socialising in the area you worked in?
- 14. What was the Nightlife like in the area you worked?
- 15. Were there many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work?
The Role
I have loved coming to work at the Red Cross. It never seemed a chore to go in - even though I wasn't being paid!
Everyone in my office was really friendly. You are asked to send out a general introduction email when you start and I received lots of lovely replies welcoming me to the organisation. The atmosphere in the office is lovely - everyone says hello to each other in the morning and offers to get each other drinks etc throughout the day.
I had several meetings with my managers where they set out the projects they wanted to me undertake. I did have to use my initiative quite often to think about what would be useful to do, but I appreciated having this independence.
Most of the time there was loads to do and I rarely got bored. I quite enjoyed thinking up projects for myself though, and the staff were always really pleased with what I came up with. If you need to be told what to do everyday then this wouldn't be an internship for you.
I felt proud when I designed and produced a leaflet and a postcard that were professionally printed to be distributed across the whole territory.
The internship has improved my confidence hugely. I now know how to practically use the skills I developed on my English Lit and Language degree course.
The Company
We had bake off sessions every week which created a lovely atmosphere.
There was good structure. I did have to use my initiative to come up with work I could be doing as sometimes there weren't staff around to guide me.
The Red Cross really make an effort to ensure that the intern gets something out of the placement as well as the charity. They listened to the areas I was most interested in and allowed me to focus on these.
I have signed a contract with them for casual work. I hope that it will develop into something more positive.
The Culture
Not many trips out with staff in the office. We did go for nice lunchtime walks together though.
As the office is on an edge-of-city business park, it was not that easy to go places to socialise at the end of the day etc.
Too out of the city for nightlife!
Not really. Fundraising events and volunteer events were available though.
Details
Internship (1 Month+)
Business Operations, Data Science, Customer Service, Human Resources, Journalism & Publishing, Market Research, Marketing, Medicine, PR & Communications, Recruitment, Voluntary
South West
November 2012