Spring Intern Review

It was a truly positive experience - I gained a very good understanding of the business groups and different desks within them, I got to know the company culture from the best and most friendly side. I made some good friends, it was a pleasure to spend a week with like-minded people and have a chance to work with them as well as have some fun together during the networking events. It's also very good to experience what a job with JPM might entail in terms of hours spent at work (during spring week they keep you busy basically from 8am-7pm every day), performed tasks (through presentations, rotations) etc.

There has been always someone whom I could ask for help or advice. While working on our group project, every team had two assigned mentors who prepared the initial task and offered guidance on how to approach the subject throughout the time when we were working on our research and presentation. Also, during rotations everyone was supereager to have a chat with you and show you around.

The most helpful sessions from which I benefitted the most (knowledge/skills-wise) were business group overviews where we were given different tasks to work on in our groups (e.g. advising a customer on investment decision, company research analysis, pitching JP Morgan to a potential client, we also got a chance to have a go at trading with a trading simulation session), and rotations (I got to shadow FX option traders, which helped me a great deal with how options work - something very useful for my uni coursework).

I do not recall any problems with organisation, and if there were any, they must have been resolved instantly so nobody actually noticed the issue. The organisers were very well prepared, kept everyone informed on what is happening next and made sure that everything runs seamlessly. We were given handbooks at the very beginning of the spring week which included schedule for the following days, which also helped a lot with getting your head around what was on the agenda.

Everybody made a great effort to help interns get to know the company and all the different roles. It was brilliant how even senior executives took time to join us at a networking lunch, speak with us during our rotations, or even come and judge our presentations on the final day. Everybody made sure to make us feel welcome and allow us to gain a very deep understanding of the fantastic culture they have at JP Morgan.

You could feel that the organisers put a major focus of the programme on allowing us to gain as much insight into the company and the roles as possible. I was very positively surprised with how everyone was really keen on teaching me something or explaining something related to their job. I very much enjoyed the opportunity to shadow traders and market risk analysts, who were extremely helpful in showing me around their desks.

As the programme was only a week long, it was a very intense experience. You usually come into the office around 8am (some people had to turn up even as early as 6-7am for their rotations) and leave around 7-8pm. This gives you an opportunity to experience what it is like to work full-time - although tiring at times, it helps you to understand how you function in such conditions.

During all of the networking events and when speaking individually to JP Morgan employees everyone kept on repeating how great the company culture is. I did not meet one person who would not be happy with the treatment they receive. The company makes sure that you are in the right place doing what you actually enjoy most or do best in - they will make every effort to let you work in the group where you will feel most rewarded.

All the business overviews, rotations and networking events were there to help me determine what I would enjoy doing, in which group I would feel best working. Shadowing has been the most beneficial experience as you get to spend 4 hours with your potential future co-workers. The organisers make sure that you get to to your rotations in one place of your preference and one place which they think would suit best your skillset, so you have a good chance of spending a half-day doing something you might end up doing in the future.

It was an unpaid internship, however I did not have to spend a penny on virtually anything - I was provided with accommodation (interns from every division were grouped in one location, so if you wanted to work on your group project in the evenings or just have a chat, it was made super easy for us), travelcard to get to and from the office, and lots of food in the office (breakfast, lunch, afternoon snack/tea and sometimes dinner).

Yes, almost everyday we had a chance to speak to some employees - during networking lunches, while working on our group presentations with our mentors, during desk rotations, or even during regular lunch at the canteen. The organisers made sure that we get to meet people from all across the business groups, who were all very keen on answering all our questions.

There were networking and social events every day. On day one we had a networking lunch with analysts and associates and an evening at a bar to let us get to know the other interns. On the following days we had a breakfast with a 'speed asset class networking' where we get to speak people working with different asset classes to gain a better understanding of how they are different to determine which ones we would be interested in working with. We had a quiz evening with the all the other interns and analysts/associates. Also we got to spend another lunchtime with senior employees, and finally, there were farewell drinks on the last day.

I would definitely recommend this spring week to anyone interested in banking. It was a wonderful experience - I learned more during this 4 days than I would ever do if browsing the internet or at university. Also, it is a great chance to make lots of new friends (maybe even among analysts/associates), your network will noticeably expand after this week. Additionally, I very much enjoyed the opportunity to be interviewed and enter the fast-track for the summer internship with JP Morgan next year.