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abrdn

COO Intern Review

at abrdn

Internship (1 Month+)

Logistics and Operations

Edinburgh

Review Submitted: July 2023

Overall Rating

4.9 /5

The Overall Rating is the average of all the ratings given in each category. We take those individual ratings and combine them into one final score!

5/5 - Overview of Role
5/5 - Skills Development
5/5 - Support and Guidance
4.5/5 - Company Culture
5/5 - Overall Experience
5/5 - Future Career Prospects

Overview of Role

Please give an overview of your role and what this involves on a day-to-day basis.
Concerning the ISAE 3402 report, it involves assisting to meetings with auditors, chasing up people to have updating their narratives, but also sending out bridging letters as a statement of the lack of control environment breaches between the annual reports.
Concerning the Intragroup, it is getting involved in all the steps of creating a monthly dashboard, from reaching out, collating data to assisting to forums and writting the minutes. It also involves updating and optimize existing data and document.
Concerning your personal project, it aims to simplify any existing processes and benefits your team.
Were you given much responsibility during your placement / internship?
Yes I have been quite much responsibilities during my internship.
From sending emails to completely change or update a process, my managers were keen to delegate and to give me my own responsibilities, which I have very much appreciated. In addition, I have been introduced a few times as the person that will realize this or this thing. Daily tasks are not reviewed by my managers, unlike my project that requires some feedbacks and verification.
Please rate how meaningful the work you were doing was
5/5

Skills Development

Have you learnt any new skills, or developed your existing skills?
I have developed my Excel skills as Excel is the main platform I am using for all my projects or daily tasks. In addition, I am using Excel for my project bearing in mind that everything musts be done in the easiest way so other persons will be able to understand and take over my work.
I have also developed my social and networking skills as the internship gives an opportunity to meet people across the business, keen to give some of their time to explain their area of business. In addition, the governance team give great exposure.
How would you rate the training provided during your experience?
5/5
How would you rate your development of industry-specific skills during the experience?
5/5
How would you rate your development of personal / soft skills during the experience?
5/5
Please rate how these skills have helped you in your career development
5/5

Support and Guidance

How much support and guidance did you receive during your placement / internship?
I have received lots of support and guidance from a range of people across the business.
Concerning the internship itself, I have been weekly supported by the HR team, as well as my stream head. They provided a lot of guidance concerning trainings, how to prepare the different presentations and how to thrive in the business as an intern.
Concerning my role itself, my two main managers provided a lot of support and guidance throughout every tasks and project and were always keen to answer any questions or provide any help.
Finally, I have also received guidance and support from my buddy and all the graduates that were keen to discuss any subject or areas of concerns.
How would you rate the support and guidance from your line manager?
5/5
How would you rate the support and guidance from the wider team?
5/5

Company Culture

What was the company culture and general atmosphere like?
I found the general atmosphere and the company culture great. People working at abrdn made my internship very pleasant. Everyone was very open to give me a bit of their time to explain to me their area of business, not matter their level of responsibilities. It allowed me to learn a lot about abrdn as a business. Morever, people were always happy to help or give any piece of advice.
abrdn believes in a true and fair work-life balance which I found really motivating to get my work done and do even more.
How would you rate the inclusiveness of the culture?
5/5
How would you rate the social opportunities?
5/5
How would you rate the diversity initiatives?
4/5
How would you rate the charity, sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives?
4/5

Overall Experience

To what extent did you enjoy your placement / internship?
I enjoyed my placement very much, it was beyond my expectations. The general atmosphere and the company culture is very true to what abrdn is branding, which was very pleasant to discover when I first arrived. People were very nice and generous with their time. The team was very cohesive and I felt included. I loved having responsibilities and my own work project, as I feel my time here would leave a small but useful legacy. finally all the support and guidance provided by the HR team and the stream head allowed me to make the most of my time as an Intern.
Please rate your level of enjoyment on your placement / internship
5/5
Please rate how your experience met your expectations
5/5

Future Career Prospects

Please rate the future employment prospects at abrdn
5/5

Recommendations & Advice

Would you recommend abrdn to a friend?
Yes
What advice would you give to others applying to abrdn
I would advise them to be themselves during the recruitment process because abrdn values unique personality and this is what make the general atmosphere so pleasant. If they have to do a group case study during the recruitment process I would advise them to really show that they can and that they enjoy working with others.
I would also advise them to dive deeply on the website to discover and understand the different areas of business and apply for what seems the more appealing to them.
In This Review
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