Summer Analyst Review

I enjoyed my two months of internship very much: the rotations were interesting and fun, the colleagues friendly and always up for a chat, the collegiate environment was very pleasant and I was given the chance to show my skills through presentations and group works.

I felt valued by the colleagues - both formally, because of the feedback given to me after the presentations and informally, through their friendly and collaborative attitude. I guess it depends very much on the desk in which you end up, though. It is important, on your behalf, to show enthusiasm and participate to the desk life!

My supervisors were key in making sure that I saw as many parts of the business as possible, I talked to many different people and I had enough work to do. We discussed in various instances about how to improve my experience. The supervisors were always available for questions and clarifications.

It depends very much on the day and on the tasks assigned. I had some projects to do on a daily basis, especially in the mornings. On average, the floor is quieter during the summer, although it can become quite active when certain announcements or data are released. In case of a less busy day, shadowing or networking is always an opportunity.

In sales and trading positions, since you are not FCA registered, the amount of responsibility you are given is quite limited. However, I was still given the chance to attend some client meetings.

The training we received at the beginning concerned basic financial concepts, which I already possessed given that I come from a financial background. However, thanks to the on-the-job experience, I learned a lot about the specific products I came across in my rotations, gaining a lot of practical knowledge and developing market awareness. Also, I practised a lot my soft skills.

I think this was one of the best parts for me - on average, the atmosphere is very collegiate and enjoyable. Most people are very friendly and it is not uncommon to go out for drinks with colleagues right after work. Again, it depends very much on the desk, though. In any case, the environment is very stimulating as you can meet very smart people.

Overall, I would say the internship is very well set up. It was very comprehensive: two days of entertaining training, weekly speaker series coming from all business areas, several networking events with business members - also addressed to female workers -, two intern events which were a lot of fun, some group works to formally assess us and - for those of us in Markets - an interesting trading game.

I think the training could be somehow improved in terms of content - too basic for people with economic or financial background, not enough for people from other backgrounds. However, it is clear that the company did invest a lot of effort and resources in the internship - all the events, the trading game... As for the on-the-job training, it depends a lot on the specific desk.

Future prospects are very appealing. The firm is growing a lot in Europe as of late and this is quite refreshing - given the industry landscape. The trend towards granting female equal opportunities is real and the enthusiasm coming form young people is very appreciated. Personally, I got an offer and I am definitely going to accept it

Fantastic social scene amongst the Markets intern class. With respect to most other employers I've heard of, the atmosphere was really friendly, collaborative and there was no competitive pressure among us at all. We did hang out together most of the week (after work) and weekends and we still keep in touch now.

Being in the City, the cost of living and socialising is quite high, especially for a European - but the salary is more than enough to cover for that.

Lots of nice places to go to - make the most of it!

Some events were in fact organised, but most of the out-of-work activities were decided among us interns.