Summer Student Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my internship.

My team were extremely accommodating of me, allowing me to sit in to any meetings they had with clients. The whole office was very friendly, even people I didn't know or work with directly.

My whole team allowed me to ask them any questions throughout the day no matter how busy they were. Each morning my mentor would brief me on what I was to do that day and explain everything very well. Throughout the 4 weeks there were check-ups from HR to ensure we were enjoying the internship and getting what we wanted out of it.

There was a good balanced workload. Some days were busier than others, but often I was given tasks to do over a couple of days which allowed me to time-manage and spread the work so that no one day was exceptionally busy.

My main task for the duration of the internship was to assist in a research project that the Graduates in the team are to complete. This involved a lot of lone-working which I enjoyed as I had the freedom to work at my own pace and decide to an extent what information was important to include in the final write-up. I felt that I was given a lot of responsibility with this, and enjoyed the independence as well as explaining to the Graduate at the end of the day what I had found so far and the progress that I had made in contribution to this research project.

Having graduated University this year, I already had a good grasp of some concepts and knew that I was a competent researcher. This internship has made me feel more confident about the skills I can bring to future careers. It has introduced me well into what the working world may be like and prepared me for what may come next.

Everyone was very friendly in the whole office and made me feel welcome. There is a sense of community and a good social aspect to the office.

The internship was very well organised. On my first day, I was given a brief overview of what the 4 weeks would consist of and had a mid-placement review to check up on my progress. My team were prepared for my arrival with a variety of tasks to complete over the course of the month.

There was no personal training as such; however, the tasks that were set to me did test my abilities and allow me to develop. The members of my team allowed me to sit in to all of their client meetings, weekly team conference calls and read over their own work which made me feel involved. The definitely invested their time in me over the 4 weeks for which I am very grateful.

There are many appealing opportunities within the company, especially for graduates. I believe the training they give you as a graduate is of a high standard and there is opportunity for progression within the company.

The fellow interns and myself got along very well and often went out for lunch together. Also, one week we had a lunch with some other colleagues which was good to be able to talk to them about non-work things too. Among my team there were friendly conversations and they were all very sociable, able to talk casually.

As I lived locally, I was able to take packed lunches which meant that I didn't incur many costs during the 4 weeks. Socialising could be a little expensive but it was not unaffordable.

There was good nightlife in Glasgow with many bars and restaurants nearby the office allowing me to meet friends after work and keep us a social life while being busy all day at work.

Any invitations to out-of work activities were offered to me, and there was usually one a week.