Finance Intern

I came into Banking through an alternative route as I studied MPhysics at the University of Exeter before undertaking the Finance Summer Internship in 2019. Like many others, I applied to quite a few different firms and Nomura’s response time was really fast (I did my first interview one day and the following day I was invited to the Assessment centre) which led me to accept their internship.

When I joined the Bank as an intern, I was immersed in a world of acronyms and substantial content that I had not come across before, having studied Physics rather than Finance. It was quite a steep learning curve in the beginning but everyone was willing to help or take the time to explain new concepts and processes. It seems like a clichéd statement but asking questions is key to understanding your role so having the confidence to ask questions in the correct way speeds up the learning experience. As an intern or Analyst, many of your daily tasks do not directly relate to university degree content so no one is at a significant disadvantage by coming from a non-financial background. Vey soon after starting, I realised that firms like Nomura are actively looking for people from different backgrounds as diverse skillsets compliment teams in different ways.

My advice to prospective interns when preparing for interview is to thoroughly research the company and role you are applying for. I read Nomura’s public financial reports, their goals and their principles. When applying this to the interview setting, this shows the interviewer that you have a real interest in the organisation and that you care about the position enough to learn more about the firm to which you apply. The interviewer knows your background and appreciates your level of financial knowledge based on your degree type or prior experience so it is more about getting in the mind-set, thinking logically and being able to solve problems rather than absolute technical or financial knowledge. The way in which you present yourself and come across as a person can be equally influential as often interviewers are keen to assess your cultural or team fit. Many of the soft skills are important, especially as I did not have the technical financial knowledge that others had.

After joining the firm, I would say that most of my technical skills have developed through learning on the job, company training and the additional financial qualifications you study for and sit during Graduate Training and beyond. However, I built an initial base of technical knowledge through researching many of the fundamental financial concepts and by reading around the markets and the daily financial news on BBC or other sites. You also learn so much on the desk when speaking to managers, colleagues and people across departments. While sitting on a floor with Investment Bankers, you learn a lot through osmosis.

I enjoy the firm’s culture and outside of my role, I head up the Graduate Newsletter that circulates throughout the Graduate cohort at the firm (Analyst to Associate). As part of this, we interview senior colleagues at the firm (at Vice President Level and above) about their advice and stories. It helps the juniors know who is out there and build peoples’ networks through their visibility and creating topics of conversation. We shadow Graduates, share stories of how they came to Nomura, and inform people who are new to London about some of the upcoming events across the city. There are no schemes that bring together all Graduate Programmes across Nomura, so the Newsletter is a great way to curate a sense of community.

Due to the size of the bank, you are able to reach out to more people. Your network can be bigger as it is easier to reach out to and find out more about individuals who work outside of your immediate team. Teams are quite small so unlike larger banks, tasks often require you to liaise with different teams on a regular basis. At Nomura there are many learning opportunities outside your immediate role, allowing you to gain exposure cross-divisionally.

The culture at Nomura is good and its ethos is quite nurturing. People are very approachable which is nice when coming in at a very junior level as individuals are willing to help you and take time out of their busy days to facilitate learning. The multiple mentoring schemes are evidence of this as seniors work to make you comfortable and actually want to work within the firm.