Policy & Public Affairs Intern Review

It has been a really interesting and enlightening internship through which I have gained numerous transferable skills and knowledge. I have had a wide variety of tasks entrusted to me which has allowed me to constantly feel intellectually stimulated.

I have a really friendly team which was incredibly welcoming, organising one on one induction sessions, team building days out and social after-work events.

I was allocated a mentor who has managed my workload and with whom I have a weekly meeting to ensure that everything is going well. She has been invaluable during my time here and I feel she would resolve any problems if I were to have any.

Generally I was pretty busy, but not enough to feel rushed off my feet. It was almost perfect. I only had a couple of days where I needed more work.

I really feel as though I was given a great amount of responsibility - much more than I had expected. This was a lovely surprised and has made me feel an integral part of the team (even when performing administrative/more elementary duties).

Whilst I am not sure the skills I gained will help my degree studies, they will undoubtedly help me in all future careers and, perhaps more importantly, in job applications.

The office was very friendly and generally relaxed, though as with all policy offices I have experienced working in, I think it had a more serious feel to it than other offices within the organisation. It suited me perfectly as if an office is too noisy, I sometimes find it hard to concentrate.

From start to finish we have been in constant contact with the Internship Executive and with our mentors. Fantastic organisation and support has been provided.

As with any internship, it is unlikely that interns will receive much training/personal development training. We did however received CV and interview skills training which I felt was quite beneficial.

I would love to work for the charity again. My office was very welcoming and the work that it undertakes is fascinating. Working for this organisation would provide me with numerous opportunities for personal development (as a staff member) and several perks such as subsidised travel etc... It also has very competitive salaries considering it is a third sector employer.

It was average. The interns did tend to socialise together at lunchtime but it was mostly limited to that. I have experienced much better social scenes in other placement environments between placement students/interns.

Incredibily expensive - central london is not a good place for unpaid volunteers to live!

I am sure it was pretty good but I didnt have much opportunity to explore it as I was unpaid and on a very tight budget.

There were many volunteering opportunities provided by the charity as well as all the activities that London has to offer - again, being unpaid meant that I didnt indulge in many of these.