Campaigns Intern Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my internship with Macmillan Cancer Support. The work was enjoyable and varied and I was given tasks which were designed specifically to enhance my skills in key areas I wanted to develop. It is an inspiring organisation which makes it a very enjoyable place to work.

I felt hugely valued by my colleagues, but at the same time they were very respectful of the nature of being an unpaid intern and were always careful not to exploit me or ask too much. I was always treated as part of the team rather than a temporary person who wasn't worth investing time and effort with.

My line manager was incredible. She gave me personal as well as professional support throughout my internship and was really open about what skills I could gain and finding out where I wanted the internship to lead me.

I was very busy on a daily basis and I really appreciated this because it was really important for me to feel like a 'normal' member of the team and not like someone dispensable. It also gave me experience of managing tight deadlines so it gave me a more realistic experience of the job.

I was given significant responsibility, but always with the support of other team members. I liked having responsibility because again it made me feel valued and as though my role mattered to the team.

The skills I have developed have been invaluable. There's no way I could be applying for the jobs I am now if I hadn't received so much training. I identified early on the skills I wanted to gain and was supported to do this.

The atmosphere in the office is great. The team is small so we socialise a lot with things like team lunches and drinks after work. This was really important in making me feel like a part of the team and getting over my initial nerves.

The internship is really well organised from beginning to end, with introduction sessions, wrap-up day and support available throughout if you should have any problems with your team or work. The only thing I would say is that after the induction interns are completely separate, and it would have been nice to have intern events to maintain contact with the others.

I would say that my team invested in me more than the company as a whole. My team were like my champions, always pushing for things on my behalf, for example to cover my expenses and training. There could have been more training sessions specifically for interns on more basic things like interview techniques.

Future employment prospects are really appealing because I have gotten to know so many people internally, ask them all about their jobs and find out what different roles I would be interested in. I would definitely work with the organisation again in the future.

Social scene among interns was non-existent, but there was lots of socialising between and among teams who work together. Despite everyone being really busy, people also make time to have lunches together and get to know one another.

The cost of living and socialising in London is huge! Luckily the organisation covered my expenses to travel in from quite far away each day so that I was able to stay at home and save myself the cost of rent, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to do the internship.

I don't know about that because I always had to get the train home! As far as I know there are a few pubs and bars around the area, and it's nice now that the Vauxhall Street Food Market has opened for the summer.

There weren't really any opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work, but I don't really see that as something I would expect from an internship. My social life was at home where I travelled in from, so I would always leave London by around 6pm.