Investment Banking Spring Week Review

I thoroughly enjoyed the insight, one of the main reasons for this was due to the people running the event and the staff at the company. They were very friendly and welcoming and very willing to give up their time to talk to all of us and answer all of or questions. There were also interactive sessions which were enjoyable, particularly the risk game which got everyone involved and discussing ideas.

J.P. Morgan were very welcoming and during my time there, it felt like they wanted me to be there and for me to do well. There were many networking opportunities throughout the week, where we had the opportunity to talk and ask questions with people who worked there, from all levels ranging from Analysts to Vice Presidents who were all willing to give up their time for us.

During the Spring Week, we were given a project to work on throughout the week and with this we were also given a mentor to help us with it which was very useful as they guided us through the experience. This was extremely useful, but at times slightly limited due to the busy schedules of the mentors.

During the Spring Week we had an excellent workshop on presentation skills. The skills that we learnt were primarily designed to help us with our presentation that we were due to give at the end of the week, but what we learnt were skills that we could take into the wider world. Particularly as in my degree I haven't given many presentations, so this was a very rewarding experience. As well as this, throughout the week through many different talks and tasks we were given a very good overview of the financial services industry, which will be particularly useful if you are planning on going into this industry later in life.

At the start of the week, we were given an itinerary, so we knew exactly what was happening, when and where. As well as this, we were kept in time with this schedule throughout the day. Although, when we first arrived on day one, no one knew what was happening, so would have been useful to see the itinerary before the start of the week.

There was a lovely atmosphere throughout the whole week. All the staff were very welcoming and all of the other interns were friendly. Everyone seemed to get along very well throughout the week, and was particularly nice to interact with everyone during planned informal evening activities such as the quiz night. There was a relaxed but formal atmosphere which worked well for the week.

There wasn't much one to one interaction during the week, but I just think that, that is due to the nature of the Spring Week itself.

Due to it only being a Spring Week, there wasn't much of an opportunity of this happening just because of the nature of the week. However, it was very useful hearing from employees who were in our position only a few years ago and who were describe to us what to expect and what tasks they do on an average day.

During the week, integrity of the employees was repeatedly mentioned by various different people and a very strong impression was given off that everyone working there cared about what they did and cared about the company that they work for.

Due to the vast numbers of speakers and presentations that we were given, we were given good and detailed insights into all the different divisions that we could get into and all of the different roles that were available. What I found particularly useful was finding out what employees did on an average day, and learning from then what sort of tasks they undertake. This helped me to think about what particular division I wanted to go into.

I was given accommodation for the week and my travel expenses were paid for.

There were a lot of networking opportunities, every day there were at least two or three specific slots for networking and meeting other employees of the firm. The employees all had a range of different jobs and were all at different stages in their careers. Therefore talking to them was a great way in finding more out about the company.

The networking events were great, as there was always a large number of employees willing and eager to talk to us and answer all of our many questions. There was a good ratio of interns to employees as well which made sure that there wasn't an awkward number of people. There were also social event opportunities, mainly with fellow interns in the evenings which were very relaxed and friendly and a great way to get to know everyone.

Speaking to employees of the company, most of the time everyone is too busy with work to do activities outside of work. It was mentioned a couple of times about going to the pub with employees after work, but I got the impression that overall there isn't enough time to take part in activities outside of work.

I definitely would recommend this insight to a friend; to friends that definitely know that they want to work in this industry and to friends who are also unsure as it is a fantastic opportunity to find out a lot more about the industry and the company itself. I had a really enjoyable and informative experience and I would recommend to anyone who is interested in Banking to particularly look for opportunities within J.P. Morgan.