Information Technology Intern

training (I missed a couple due to my exam timetable and as the Nomura placement starts quite early) and then we went to sit on the desks. As this was back in 2018, everyone who was on industrial placement was in office all the time. I was staffed on the ‘Symphony Project’ [setting up our internal communications system] and was provided with a lot of responsibility from an early stage so it was fun. I also completed an intern project that was a Symphony Bot, which is still running today.

I first heard of Nomura through the University Careers Fair, which is quite a well-attended event each year. Nomura attended and as a bank (compared to other types of placement organisation) offered a competitive pay and interesting business roles. The main pull to this particular placement was that it was in a business analyst role. As a woman in technology, it was quite rare to see this type of placement as an internship and roles tend to consist of software development or tech support so this option provided an exciting option for a woman in tech.

As a business analyst, many of my daily tasks worked cross-divisionally and I was fortunate to speak with a lot of different people across the business. While on the Symphony project, I worked with people in the Global Markets Division, Client Ecosystem Team, Investment Banking, Corporate Communications and Legal. Many of these relationships have continued throughout my time here and has enabled me to interact with people globally. Early in my placement year, my line manager moved to a different division within the firm and so I took responsibility of the project, enabling me to experience a very high level of exposure to the business as the lead business analyst on the project, leading meeting and other tasks that were very exciting.

The best way to make the most of the placement year is by grabbing every opportunity available, and doing so in the first three months is really important. As an intern, teams are not always aware of your capabilities or how much work to assign at the beginning; by offering to take on additional tasks you can demonstrate dependability and in suit you will gain more responsibility.

Another important aspect was networking. My graduate role is in a different team to that in which I interned and instead with the people I worked alongside on the project. Due to strong performance on the Symphony project, they offered me a graduate position and this is quite a common trend for Industrial Placement interns. By networking and demonstrating your competency in each task or project, you build greater respect from those around you. This way the teams can better understand your skills sets and know how you can add value as a graduate on their team.

The culture is a key aspect of the firm (as is the terrace bar) and the graduate intake are good friends, which naturally extends to the new graduates and interns as well. In the wider firm, everyone is friendly and always willing to give you their time to answer any questions. I also have good management which is very helpful as a junior. They give many opportunities to take on responsibility and support larger projects of substantial changes in tech.

Other groups such as the Public Speaking society provide the chance to network outside of your work areas and encounter people I would not have otherwise. Finally, the office location is great and flexible working options within tech (with the option to work from home up to three days a week) make it an enjoyable place to work.