SPID Intern Review

The internship itself has been INCREDIBLE, by far the best professional experience I have ever experienced. I've been able to see innumerable sides to the civil service; from the day-to-day runnings of things, to sitting in on minister's meetings, to meeting a variety of different people, to visiting other departments, writing briefings, I even participated in the world's largest scrum & had brunch at the British museum!

The whole team have been wonderfully supportive & welcoming. Civil servants from other teams/departments (including fast streamers) were incredibly friendly & lovely, and always willing and happy to have their brains picked over coffee about their civil service experience. I found chatting to them, in some ways, more insightful than the day-to-day internship structure, as it really gave me a chance to bombard them with questions & help me reach the conclusion to join the civil service after graduation! & there is always a good spread of cake!

I couldn't have asked for a better manager/mentor/team! I am very thankful to everyone who has 'adopted me' over the course of the placement!

There has always been something to do! Even on relatively slow days, there has always been my project to work on. On busy days, I'd been going to meetings, visiting different departments, writing briefing etc..

The main responsibility entrusted to me was the project.

The skills Ive been able to develop & practice are entirely irrelevant outside the workplace. By this I mean, I wouldn't be able to transfer the writing skills developed during the internship & apply them to dissertation writing. As the focus here is short, precise, succinct & clear, whereas academic style writing is the complete opposite. Similarly the networking skills I've developed, I wouldn't try to use on someone during freshers.

Its a very open, friendly and social office space. That being said, its easy to buckle down & work.

The organisation of the internship was utterly horrific. The whole process requires the patience of a saint! I had to wait 3 months to officially find out I was successful (I unofficially found out in March I had been successful & had to wait a further 2 months for this too be officialised). After this, I had to wait another 2 months to be allocated to a department (and another few weeks to get correct contact details, as the ones given were false). Then came the security checks - which took weeks to be cleared (understandable). However this whole uncertain waiting process meant I started a week after everyone finished, and had to take time out of uni to have a decent internship length. Which in turn meant I missed all the intern drinks/social events and couldn't do anything else with my summer (get a job/go travelling) as I was anxiously waiting by the phone/religiously checking my emails. On the other hand, the events organised by the HR team were fantastic (opening & closing ceremony had an incredible selection of guest speakers, the mod crisis conference & all the other talks)

My team arranged for me to meet a wide range of people, and organised meetings with civil servants working in my interest areas. The e-learning was particularly useful!

Filling out the fast stream application as we speak!

See above. The other department interns organised a variety of different meet ups & events. But as I couldn't go, I cant comment.

London prices are ridiculously expensive!

London nightlife is insane, yet pricey!

Endless opportunities: participated in the world's largest scrum, went for brunch at the British museum & saw the newly-opened exhibition before the museum opened to the general public, helping out poppy planting to commemorate the First World War Centenary & lots more!