Summer Intern Review

This was a really good thing to do at an early stage of the degree. It's always useful to work on the retail level before going in to any role within a bank, and is an excellent starting point for people (like myself) who have worked in any retail role before. The only criticism would be that it would be useful to have a more defined role, for the benefit of those working in the branch, as a security to ensure that suitable tasks were being assigned.

I did fell well valued - all were friendly and encouraging from the start. Some in particular went to really great lengths to push my development, and I was treated like any permanent member of staff would expect to be.

Whenever I asked any questions, I was always more than adequately assisted. As well as this, they often went over-and-above what they needed to - in one case, even arranging for me to spend a day at the regional offices to push me forward and give me an even stronger insight.

Only rated '9' because I think there was one exception, I didn't have to look for work to do - it always came to me. This probably relates to the question about how valued I felt - it is because I was valued that I tended to be asked to help people, which took time, and kept me well occupied.

Given the level of regulation on the sector, I think I was given as much responsibility as I could reasonably have expected to have been given, although in fairness, it would be accurate to say that perhaps more responsibilities could be given to someone working on a similar level in a less regulated sector.

I don't really think they will assist towards my degree subject, as it is not directly related to the job. Perhaps in terms of helping beyond the degree, it will assist me in that I will always be able to maintain that 'I have done that', should I be working in another role within a bank.

It was by far the most positive workplace I've ever worked in. There was serious business to be done, and certainly the atmosphere reflected that. They really didn't seem to employ time-wasters, and everyone there seemed to have a sense that they could progress within the organisation if they wanted to.

I really think that we should have been informed when we applied that we could only be placed in the very largest branches (hence in a limited selection of cities by necessity only). As well as this, there was a major problem affecting the majority of interns that the IT systems were not adequately set up for us to access when we started the job. Also, I think that the branch management should have been given some kind of description of what roles they might want to place us in.

Given that they are unlikely to really benefit from giving a thorough training in procedural retail banking, I think we had an awful lot of time invested in our development. Arguably even too much, given that we only had a limited period of time to actually do the job in!

Very strong, although it goes without saying that if they paid their graduates a salary that is anywhere near on a par with their competitors, the appeal would be greater. The question really, is why wouldn't you take a salary 50% higher by doing the same job for one of their rivals?

Very good - although I'm aware it would have been far better if I had been located (as most interns were) in London. Colleagues also were known to offer to meet socially after work too, which was much appreciated!

It was probably average, or at least seems it, as it is the region I grew up in! I feel that the internship pay was more than adequate to allow for this, in any case.

I didn't go there for the nightlife, but it was a city, so there is of course some!

Yes - although some of these were planned for after the internship, so due to geography not possible for me to get involved in anyway.