System Integration Analyst Review

Overall, the placement was very enjoyable, mainly because of the people that I met who were very social and easy to get along with. HR also put on a few events for the intern cohort which were pretty fun too. The majority of actual work was very interesting (most of the time) which made for a very good experience.

I would say that this one tended to depend on a project-by-project basis. Different projects had different atmospheres. Some of my colleagues were very encouraging and one even became an informal mentor. However, on another project, it did feel al little like I was completely alone.

Again, this depended on a project-by-project basis. However, I would say that overall, there could be massive improvements when it comes to managing interns. Perhaps more frequent meetings between line managers and interns would be a way to make the intern feel more supported. There is a lot of support for graduate Analysts but not so much for interns even though they are Analysts as well.

Extremely busy which is great! This gave me a chance to learn a wide array of skills. For me, the whole internship was about absorbing as many skills as I could, so the more busy I was - the better! There probably wasn't a single day where I wouldn't consider myself busy.

This depended on which project I was on. Some projects allow more responsibility than others. I would say the smaller projects tend to allow for more responsibility.It also down to the individual as well to seek out other responsibilities on the project, so if you are proactive, you can always find more roles to take on.

I think some of the technical skills such as Excel and Powerpoint will help me with the rest of my career as every job in the corporate sector requires these skills now. Other skills such as people management, developing client relationships, prioritisation etc, will help in the rest of my career too.

This would depend on which project you are as all work is done at the client's office. Clients in the retail/media/entertainment sector tend to have very relaxed atmospheres in the office whereas clients in the financial services sector tend to have very serious and quiet atmospheres in their offices.

The eight month internship was set up in the form of two projects, each of which lasted approximately four months each. HR decide what your first project is - you don't get to choose. You can choose your second project by networking with people and asking about vacancies on their projects and if you still can't find anything, you can talk to HR and they should be able to get you staffed somewhere, although its best for you to try and find your own project so you can find something that you will find interesting.

We had a weeks training at the beginning of the internship was pretty thorough and covered the basics of the skills that we would need to have for our internship. The training also gave us a chance to get to know our intern cohort which was a pretty nice opportunity to have and settle us in for the internship.

If you perform well on the internship, then you may receive an offer for the Summer Vacation Scheme which is a summer internship that takes place between your second and third year of university. If you do well on the Summer Vacation Scheme, then you may be offered a graduate job at the firm. So the Horizons Internship won't guarantee you a graduate job with the firm (unless you apply for the Development scheme and are successful but that's a separate matter) but will give you the chance to place yourself on the route for a graduate job.

Fellow placement students were always up to go out and have a good time. Tended to go clubbing, or to bars and pubs. Colleagues - the young ones tend to go out a lot but a lot of senior staff don't tend to as I guess they prefer to go home to their families!

London is an extremely expensive city to live in. The cost for renting a room in London in Zones 1-2 is approximately £750 a month. Don't even bother to look at renting a property in these areas as it will be way too expensive for an intern salary to cover. Travel by TFL tends to cost £170 a month on a Oyster Card (I recommend getting a monthly pass). Taxis are very expensive so its better to take the bus where possible.

London has a great nightlife!

A few projects run sporting events such as weekly football, or sometimes a group of people might try and put a team together to run the London Marathon. Most out-of-work events tend to be sporting related. There are also a few events that are put on around Christmas time too such as Carol Singing at a church in Central London.