2016 Markets Spring Insight Week Review

The insight week was packed with information but there were also enjoyable social events on most of the evenings. This made the week very enjoyable as you really got to bond with your peers. During the week there were activities such as trading and sales activities which really made the week fun and gave you an opportunity to put all the information into practice.

The people working at JP Morgan really took us under their wing and valued any questions you had to ask. I felt like they looked at you as potential team members rather than just as students, so everyone invested a lot of time into developing our knowledge.

During the week it was stressed that no question is a stupid one and that was definitely true throughout the week. It was made very easy for us to obtain information regarding any queries we had. We did group projects where we had mentors who specialised in the subject of the presentation. This provided a lot of guidance as you got to learn about a topic which you may have previously had no knowledge about (like me).

The week insight may not assist with my degree too much as I'm not doing a finance degree, however, all the skills I learnt I will carry through in my life. In the week the importance of networking was stressed, and I now feel confident and comfortable with approaching people in terms of networking.

The week was structured so well. There was a lot of information to be taken in and I believe the week was structured in a great way which allowed every day to not be too overwhelming. There was information from a lot of sectors of the bank rather than just the whole week being mainly about one topic i.e. trading. I felt like the week was structured in a way which allowed us to bond with many people on the insight week which was really valuable.

Obviously the atmosphere was usually serious as we were all there to learn. However, the atmosphere was never dull or boring as everyone in the firm were so friendly and helpful.

We got two rotations on different desks which was so helpful in terms of really understanding what day to day life would be in an investment bank. I felt like the bank had really invested their time in us during the rotations as usually the person who we were shadowing were very busy but they took time out of their work to accommodate us.

Although it is impossible to fully know what the working environment is like until you begin working, the insight week gave a real insight into the work that they do. On the rotations you would be taken to morning meetings which really gave a clear idea of how a day is structured.

During the week the morals and conduct of the company was repeated to us and it really came across through how we were treated and how people interacted with each other at the firm/

The week allowed us to see many different roles inside of the bank which helped many people decide what exactly they wanted to do in the future. However, I did still leave the week totally undecided as to what position I wanted to take in the bank. I felt there could have maybe been an afternoon where, one on one, we could have discussed what we fit into the best and try and narrow down our options.

We were given accommodation to stay in, travel was paid for, breakfast and lunch were also provided.

There were networking breakfasts and lunches which were highly valuable. One lunch was with analysts which was extremely helpful as most of them had done the summer internship and were giving us advice in terms of our future careers and letting us know what to expect if we joined the firm at graduate level. We also had a chance to meet senior members of different asset classes which allowed us to broaden our knowledge on different areas of the bank.

This wasn't really focused on in our insight week, although from talking to some members of the team, I found out there was a gym on site which a lot of people used.