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F&A Intern Blogs

[17.8.2007]
Hey guys, it's been another great week. I've been working mainly on a big implementation of this new tracking system which I came up with for my interim report. Both of my managers (my manager and her manager) really liked it when I told them about my idea, so I've been working to get it ready to go live ASAP. While working on the new system I've had a load of help from the other people on my team as well as in other departments; I know that it sounds repetitive, but everyone really has been incredibly pleasant and eager to help.

It's amazing thinking that we really are coming to the closing few weeks of the internship. In a way it seems so recently that we were all at Intern College, fresh faced and new. On the other side though, when I think about everything which I've done since I've been here, it seems like I've been here so much longer. It's all been very enjoyable too, and this is an emotion which I'm sure almost all of my fellow interns share.

[13.8.2007]
A very busy week, but a satisfying result. Last week was my interim presentation with my manager's manager- I prepared a big document for it including my analysis, findings and my recommendations and walked him through it, answering any questions on things which weren't clear and further discussing how I went about my analysis. As such, it was a very busy week of preparation before the presentation (it was on a Friday afternoon), but my manager was very supportive, offering advice and feedback.

Now we're pretty much on the home stretch of the internship with about 3 weeks of work to go- incredible to think how quickly the time has gone by. From now until the end I'll be finishing off some of my analysis as well as working on implementing one of the big recommendations which I've made to track overdraft costs more effectively- a good bit of Excel work (… being Finance, it has to be…), but it should be doable and the end result will be a tool which should be able to be used for years to come; which would be very satisfying!

So I'd better get back to excel for the time being, but I've also got a few meetings this afternoon to keep me busy. Until next time…

[3.8.2007]
Hi guys it's been a great couple of weeks, so I'll bring you up to speed on what's been going on. Last week we had the other F&A interns up from the south for an intern day (technically a day and a half…) which included a number of presentations by senior members of the different groups within F&A in the GBS regarding their careers and what their group does. Afterwards, we went out for dinner and to a couple of bars in town- was great to chat with the other interns about how they were enjoying it and about their projects. The next day we went to the plant in Seaton (about 15 minutes from the office) where they make most of the fine fragrances and hair dyes to have a tour around the facilities. We followed where the scents, colours etc. come in to where they're mixed and then to where they're bottled and packed for distribution. Very cool!

I then had to rush off from that with another intern to attend a review that some of the Banking Division guys were having with one of our banks- negotiating terms for the future etc. Being my first proper negotiation, it was very interesting to watch the discussion go back and forth. Everyone was all nice and friendly, but you could tell that everyone still wanted to go home with what they wanted! All in all though, it was very interesting and was great to be able to attend.

Otherwise, it's really been work as usual, my project is going great. I've now identified some of the lead countries for our problems (but in the interests of diplomacy am not going to name any names…) and am now looking for solutions (although I did find that one idea I had was so great that it had already been done…).

So overall, its been another busy but satisfying fortnight.

[20.7.2007]
I've now finished the second week of my internship and it has all gone by like a blur. There has been a lot to do and a wide variety of people to talk to, but I have had so much freedom within my project that it's been immensely interesting and rewarding (although definitely scary at times!)

A bit about my project and about me would probably be good at this point… I'm working in Banking Front Office in the GBS in Newcastle. The site which I work at provides almost all of the financial shared services for EMEA, (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) - so there is a huge variety of different finance and accounting functions on site as well as quite a few working in IDS on the Financial Solutions (all of the fancy finance systems) side of that. It's been great having all of the different groups on site as it has allowed me to talk to all sorts of people in different areas of finance to get an idea of the huge variety of different jobs that you can do within F&A.

Specifically, my project is with regards to the overdraft fees which we pay on our bank accounts and finding ways to significantly reduce or eliminate them. Sounds easy, but with the amount of cash which we manage yearly being heavily into the tens of billions of dollars, it's no easy task! I have definitely been impressed though that both me and my fellow interns have all been given meaningful and interesting projects that will actually bring value to the business.

Now for me, I'm British but have lived in the USA (Washington, DC and Longboat Key, Florida) since I was 12, but am now at University in the UK, so a bit of both really, and my accent is testament to that. P&G being a US based but international company felt like a good fit for me and there are a lot of people on site from all over Europe, North America and elsewhere.

Well I'd better get back to work, but I'll be keeping you guys updated with my progress in the coming weeks!