Spring Week Insight Review

Overall the Insight was thoroughly enjoyable. I was able to learn a huge amount not only about UBS but also the industry and how it is developing in the turbulent economic environment. Most of the speakers were engaging and enthusiastic.

Obviously the extent to which we were able to add value to the company was limited by our lack of experience, however we were made to feel welcome in every department we visit and given the opportunity to take part in various workshops and activities.

We received a great deal of support from campus recruitment and given many opportunities to ask questions. Work shadowing offered more in depth guidance in the relevant business area we had each chosen.

I feel that the skills I developed throughout the week, including hard skills such as an understanding of financial markets as well as softens skills centred around the company's core competencies, I will be able to use in my academic and professional development.

Very well structured - the day was busy and tiring but never boring!

The atmosphere was fun and supportive with a really great group of young people.

There was obviously a limit to the amount of responsibility that could be given to us, as we are only at the very start of our careers, however the recruitment team made us feel hugely valued and had clearly invested a lot of time and effort into organising activities and engaging speakers for us. The concluding talk from the UBS UK Head of Group was probably the most impressive example of this - he made it clear that it was up to us to shape the business in the future and to help steer the company through the economic and moral challenges ahead. He gave us a considerable amount of time to ask questions and answered them in a clear and inspiring way, despite how busy he must be.

I think the work shadowing afternoon was probably the best example of what it would be like to have a full time role with the company or firm. The talks, though informative, could only give us an idea of the day to day experience of working at UBS - maybe some more shadowing in different departments would be useful for gaining a more appreciable insight.

The culture at UBS is centred around the three pillars, behaviours and principles, which really do permeate through the company.

I think that the content of the insight was hugely helpful for me to decide which areas of an investment bank would be suitable for me as a career going forward.

I live inside the M25, therefore was not eligible for reimbursement. However, I understand the terms were very generous for overseas candidates in particular.

We had several networking opportunities including a lunch with members of the current graduate training programme and some of the mid-level Ascent participants. This gave an insight into the experience of employees at the start of their careers and those who had shown excellence in their areas, thus what we might hope to achieve for ourselves at UBS.

The networking opportunities were very good, but I feel there could have been more. Also the networking lunch was made quite difficult due to having to stand up whilst eating messy food!

Yes - we were made aware of the huge range of employee networks: from LGBT to gender equality to wine tasting to scuba diving. All the employees at UBS are really encouraged to find a network to devote some time to outside their normal working life. Two days of volunteering are awarded each year to staff and there seems to be a high level of participation, even amongst the most senior executives.

Yes I definitely would recommend this insight to anyone interested in a career in finance.