Intern Review

I really enjoyed my placement. It wasn't only that my colleagues were nice and genuine people, but that they really wanted me to accomplish things.

My colleagues were really great and always valued my opinion no matter how senior they were. They always told me they appreciated my insight.

My multiple managers were nothing but supportive.

I was about as busy as you would want to be on an internship. I always felt like I was making a contribution, but I was rarely, if ever, stressed.

I was given both a lot of responsibility and a lot of freedom to create an entire project. There were constant check-ins not necessarily to make sure that I was doing the work but that I was comfortable and happy with what I was doing and getting done.

I think it will really assist me in the way I view businesses in the future. I knew close to nothing about the internal workings of companies and what people do all day inside of them. Now I understand a lot more about business processes and internal affairs.

The atmosphere in the office was overwhelmingly 1. busy 2. positive The only time I would see frustration is with business politics, which sometimes can divert projects in unexpected ways. Overall, though, everyone in the office seems quite happy to be there and interact. It seems like Standard Life makes a dedication to work-life balance and that's evident in a lot of workers' behaviors.

The internship program is very structured and closely monitored. I never felt like I would fall between the cracks.

They invested a lot of their time in making sure I was happy and that I developed skills that would not only help the project but help me. They always made time for me to give presentations and share my views, as well as opportunities to learn more about the systems and processes.

I would definitely work here in the future if asked.

Since all the interns (and some students doing work experience) were put up in serviced apartments paid for by the company, we were all living in close conditions. This provided for a really great social scene, with not only nights out, but just a lot of hanging out, working out, ordering food, etc.

Considering Standard Life pays for accommodation and a living wage, this was the best possible situation. Compared to London, Edinburgh is downright cheap. Despite the Fringe being on, there are plenty of opportunities to have inexpensive eats or night out, but there are also high end options for anything you could want.

The nightlife was great. Edinburgh is a small city but it has its fair share of clubs and bars, especially near Standard Life headquarters since it is right downtown.

There weren't many specific activities happening besides team bar nights or the wine club August event, but I think that in general many people from Standard Life end up socializing.