Application Developer Intern Review

It was alot of fun. The people there were amazing; both the interns and the full time employees. No one was ever unpleasant, the internship managers went to huge lengths to make sure everyone was happy. Lots of very nice free lunches (and occasionally drinks too...). The area was great to work in; lots of pubs, bars and restaurants. Every day the a group of the interns would meet up and go for lunch in some very nice places.

I was assigned projects which had big impacts. This in itself made me feel valued; that they would trust an intern on his first day to make some important programs almost by himself. My colleagues also included me in all discussions, including international conference calls on how to solve particular issues and also in the funny 'office conversations'

There wasn't much support/guidance at all. Most people who I needed to talk to would never get back to me, sometimes it would take 3 weeks and about 10 reschedules before we actually met. This put my projects at a huge disadvantage. However I don't think this was a bad thing - it forced you to think independently when necessary and aggressively hunt down whoever you needed to talk to. It also provided a challenge in self-confidence - I didn't get the help I needed so I did it myself and had confidence I was doing the right thing.

There were always meetings to go to, and people to try and talk to. When doing neither of these I was at my desk replying to emails and working on my projects. Alot of stuff would sometimes come up and I would work until midnight, but on some days I left at around 6.

I had important projects, and if screwed them up then alot of things would be broken. But they weren't things critical to the company.

I developed a competency at almost every skill. I learnt completely new languages (bash/ksh, java) and scripts (sql/svn) which will complement my computing work in physics. I now present to a high standard, and at a high level of communication - a quality essential in academia and business alike. Having done the internship I can organise my thoughts and tasks very well - again a huge bonus in all walks of life.

I was in the back office and the atmosphere was quite lethargic. Very rarely did people get up and laugh, and there was no buzz to place. It was very work-orientated.

In general the placement was very well organised. We had structured classroom sessions at the start, regular meetings and talks on various parts of the bank. There were also group presentations to give and regular reviews. However I felt that my office had little preparation for me, given that they only found out I'd be coming 3 days before, so I was thrown in at the deep end. I actually preferred this as it was the most efficient way to learn everything about the role and department.

I think they invested alot. They arranged (at huge cost) some classroom training for us, taught by the very best the industry has to offer. There was also continuous exposure to very senior people in the bank, whose time is not cheap.

I think it would be an amazing place to work. The people and the environment are second to none.

Every friday (and sometimes other days) a group of interns would go to the pub for happy hours and enjoy many drinks, which was alot of fun, and allowed for cross-division networking. Just in general, the other interns were great fun - everyone was very interested in everyone else, and no one was ever by themselves.

I worked in central london - it doesn't get much more expensive. Living in shepherds bush with 4 other people worked out fine though - £125/week rent, plus £96/month for the underground. However, there was a pub close by which had all its drinks half price from 5-8pm every day which was brilliant - really cut the costs of drinking after work.

There is lots of awesome nightlife around, as this is central London.

Deutsche Bank arranged a community day of volunteering in mile end. This was a great and fun way of getting to know people outside of the work environment. Additionally there are loads of teams (ie DB touch rugby, basketball etc) to get involved in and also regular competitions with other banks, like BarCap.