Jessica talks us through her Customer Operations summer placement
Hello everybody,
My name is Jessica Inions and I am currently undertaking a Summer Placement with Centrica on the Customer Operations stream.
My first week as a Centrica summer intern started with an opportunity to begin networking with my colleagues in the beautiful surroundings of Royal Holloway. An induction to Centrica the next day gave us all an idea of what to expect over the next ten weeks. It also allowed us to learn more about the company and the all-important leadership behaviours (which you need to live and breathe if you’re thinking of applying to Centrica!). There were a lot of knowledgeable and helpful people, eager to answer any questions we had. At the end of a great day getting to know the other interns, we split up and moved to our placement locations – mine being Manchester.
On my first day in my new office in Stockport I arrived excited but slightly apprehensive of what lay ahead of me. My line manager talked through my role with me – project managing the upcoming training inductions for sales advisers. The great thing about Centrica is that you get to work on real projects where you can see the difference you make. I was given a lot of responsibility early on which was quite daunting but I am surrounded by a great team and lots of friendly people who are always willing to answer any questions I have – which is usually a lot! What I am enjoying most about my role so far is the opportunity to play a part in the process of training which will develop great sales advisers - ultimately affecting our customers.
On a day to day basis I communicate with managers and key stakeholders, making sure that everything is in place for the inductions that will take place in a few weeks. Daily tasks include ensuring that uniforms have been ordered, accommodation has been booked and that everybody knows where they are required to be during the inductions. The job requires me to be organised and able to prioritise tasks because we are working to a very strict time scale. It’s not all work and no play though, Manchester is a great city, one which I hadn’t had a chance to visit before now and by working with Centrica I am lucky enough to be living ten minutes away from the centre.
Although I am based in Manchester, over the next few weeks I will be travelling to Wales and Leeds and hopefully going out into customers’ homes with the sales advisers in order to gain real experience of our customers’ requirements. It has been an exciting and hugely rewarding first week and I am looking forward to the rest of my summer at Centrica!