PR & Marketing Intern Review

I have really enjoyed my internship with Disney. It's been so interesting to learn about all the work that goes on 'behind the scenes' at such a global company. I've always loved Disney, and I've always loved the theatre, so working in the theatrical department was a perfect match for me.

The theatrical group is quite a small team of people, so I felt like my contribution to the team was very valued. The PR team within the theatrical group is a team of 2, including the intern so you really feel like you're getting involved and making a difference.

With the theatrical team being so small and the workload being so high, there wasn't always time to be guided through new challenges or tasks. This wasn't always a bad thing as it allowed me to try and work things out on my own. If I ever became really stuck on a task there was always support when I needed it.

My workload tended to vary quite a lot. There were some points where the department as a whole was relatively quiet, and during these times I didn't always have a lot to do. On the other hand, there were other points where my workload would be very, very high and I would be working on multiple projects at the same time. Overall, there was a nice balance; I never felt like I was rushed off my feet, or like I was sat twiddling my thumbs!

As I had some experience with PR already, I picked up the day to day tasks pretty quickly. I think this allowed me to take on more responsibility earlier on in my internship. Especially towards the end of my year at Disney I have been given a lot of responsibility and am managing certain aspects of the PR/Marketing campaigns.

My degree is very broad and covers a wide range of topics. One of the units I am studying in my final year is PR, so it will be strange to go back and learn about PR from the beginning having worked in industry for a year. I think the knowledge I have gained about the working world and the industry will help me out in some aspects of my degree but there will be other units where PR won't really come into play. I think the experience I have gained at Disney will be invaluable once I graduate.

The atmosphere is very friendly and relaxed. Everyone gets on and it's a really nice environment to work in.

When I applied for the role, it was a PR placement. I found out a few weeks before my start date that the role had been changed to PR and Marketing. At the time I was a little anxious as I wasn't too sure what to expect but I've gained a lot more the experience by working on both PR and Marketing. When I arrived, the previous intern had prepared a handover book with all the important information and a timeline of what I should be expecting to work on in the coming months. This was very useful when I arrived as it was nice to see when I was expected to be able to run certain tasks by myself, and what I should be working towards.

There wasn't a lot of personal training and development involved. I will be attending a digital marketing course with my team towards the end of my internship, however.

I would love to come back and work for Disney, but I'm not sure whether I would want to come back straight after graduation. I would quite like to experience agency work before coming to work in house again. I have also heard a lot of people say that it's very hard to move up within Disney, so I wouldn't want to come in at an entry level job and not have anywhere to progress. If I were to come back to Disney I think it be afer a few years of working within the industry.

I commuted from home so I think I missed out on a lot of the social scene. My particular department doesn't work with many other lines of business so there was limited opportunities to meet other interns. There are no activities organised by Disney for interns. The social scene with colleagues from my team is good; after work drinks, lunches etc.

I commuted from home so didn't live in the area - the travel was expensive though. As Hammersmith isn't in central London, the cost of socialising was a bit cheaper than other places, but still more expensive than prices at home.

I rarely went out at night in the area, as it's tricky to get home. But there are always places to go, and always something going on.

There are activities organised outside of work but these weren't always for interns to get involved in.