FT Special Reports by Daniel Hadlow

Thursday 3 November 2011

Monday morning was a bit of a blur. For the first time in years I had tried to join the dreaded commuters on the way into the office, and by the time I reached the FT building, I was just calming down after a few elbows and bashes along the way. All of a sudden it really hit me, never have I ever interned at a place with such a grand and international reputation. Stress levels were up again.

But these feelings were quickly dealt with through the helpful nature of the editorial assistant who came to meet me and another intern. A brief tour of the offices aside, the first port of call was a morning meeting with all the key editors, and Lionel Barber himself. It was highly interesting to oversee the gathering of all of the day’s news stories, and by the time I got back to my desk they were up on the website.

The remainder of the internship consisted of tasks like researching the prospects of the fleet car management world, gathering information and writing a concise history of climate change meetings, and proofreading and subbing articles for ‘Women at the Top’ (which is your baby if you come to work on the Special Reports desk), amongst other things.

The overall feeling of my time with the FT is a great sense of belonging. Immediately made to feel at ease, the team was very accommodating and there wasn’t a single member I felt I was bothering with questions on my various tasks. And the responsibilities come with the position. Of course you will get the odd task that isn’t that stimulating, but the vast majority of jobs thrown your way are as equally rewarding, as they are testing.