Summer Intern
Polen Capital is an investment manager with offices in London, Boston and Boca Raton. The experience interning in sales and client relationship management was overwhelmingly positive, such that I have accepted a graduate offer to continue working there. Since the summer, Polen have also welcomed me back over university holidays to work on ad hoc projects and catch up with the team.
The heirarchy is very flat, no silly office politics about who can talk to who, such that I felt comfortable talking to anyone. This goes across all teams.
They gave me a very full orientation with the opportunity to attend AMAs with all the executives. Excellent communication from HR, who checked in with me initially on a bi-weekly, then a weekly basis. I was assigned a mentor outside of my team, as well as an unofficial 'life mentor' in my team.
Because I was so well looked after, it may sound like I was stifled and patronised, however it felt far from that, instead feeling supported to achieve my best as independently as I felt comfortable with. I was trusted to do my own thing, and that was exciting as a 21 year old. Taking advantage of this was recognised by my boss, who upon hearing I could come back for just 2 weeks during uni holidays, gave me a problem to solve before flying off to Asia and leaving me to my own devices. This consequently involved one-on-one meetings with someone 30 years my senior. I loved having the responsibility yet without feeling stressed.
Pioneers of ROWE (results only working environment) culture, Polen is non-corporate in feel yet still churns out excellent work. Being able to go to the gym in the middle of the day or take a 3 hour lunch break allows you to get things done on your own terms, and I think this is why the quality of work is so high.
The perks are fantastic: LOTs of free delicious lunches, gym membership contributions, pensions etc.
There is a very friendly feel to our team: I have got to meet my colleague's families at dinner and drinks events. They're a tight-knit bunch, so it might not be to everyone's taste, but it was to mine!
The heirarchy is very flat, no silly office politics about who can talk to who, such that I felt comfortable talking to anyone. This goes across all teams.
They gave me a very full orientation with the opportunity to attend AMAs with all the executives. Excellent communication from HR, who checked in with me initially on a bi-weekly, then a weekly basis. I was assigned a mentor outside of my team, as well as an unofficial 'life mentor' in my team.
Because I was so well looked after, it may sound like I was stifled and patronised, however it felt far from that, instead feeling supported to achieve my best as independently as I felt comfortable with. I was trusted to do my own thing, and that was exciting as a 21 year old. Taking advantage of this was recognised by my boss, who upon hearing I could come back for just 2 weeks during uni holidays, gave me a problem to solve before flying off to Asia and leaving me to my own devices. This consequently involved one-on-one meetings with someone 30 years my senior. I loved having the responsibility yet without feeling stressed.
Pioneers of ROWE (results only working environment) culture, Polen is non-corporate in feel yet still churns out excellent work. Being able to go to the gym in the middle of the day or take a 3 hour lunch break allows you to get things done on your own terms, and I think this is why the quality of work is so high.
The perks are fantastic: LOTs of free delicious lunches, gym membership contributions, pensions etc.
There is a very friendly feel to our team: I have got to meet my colleague's families at dinner and drinks events. They're a tight-knit bunch, so it might not be to everyone's taste, but it was to mine!