Spring Insight Review

I really enjoyed this insight week at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. I was able to meet people from different divisions of the bank, understand the links between them and learn a lot about the division that I was interested in (Global Markets). I learnt a lot in only one week, and the other participants were nice.

Everyone that I met was extremely helpful and was more than happy to answer any question that I had. The employees were interested in us, asked us questions about what we were studying, and were more than willing to give us their contact details. Talking with people working at Baml is truly the best way to understand the bank’s culture.

The insight week was extremely useful to get tips for the summer interview, both from the HR and from the employees who had gone through the same process as us. We also had the opportunity of developing hard skills in finance, as we saw a real IPO case with people who had worked on it.

We had the opportunity to improve our soft skills through networking sessions, interviews, presentations, group works, which can be applied anywhere. We also learnt a lot about the general structure of an investment bank, its role and how it works. Going through real finance cases gave us a good idea of what people do in their day-to-day job.

The insight week was extremely well structured. We had a timetable given to us on the first day, there were a lot of diverse activities organised for us (talks, presentations, job shadowing, networking sessions). We were told at the end of each day when and where we had to meet the following day, and the HR were always here to answer any question that we had.

The atmosphere was great, the other participants were all willing to help each other, to get to know each other, and this made the spring week really enjoyable. The employees were also really helpful, always willing to answer our questions, and told us to drop them an email in case we had more questions.

It is really hard to differentiate all the banks without actually going there and talking to the employees who work there. The spring insight gave us the opportunity to learn about the skills that the bank values, what its culture is and whether we would be a good fit or not.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch paid for the travel expenses and also for the accommodation for people who lived outside London. The hotel was really good, not far from the office, and it was nice to see the other participants at the end of the day and meet with them at the hotel.

Yes, there were numerous opportunities for us to meet with employees of the bank. We had networking breakfasts / lunches, and also some sessions where we could talk to people from specific divisions of the bank. There was also a fair organized where employees from all divisions were there to talk to us.

Absolutely, I would recommend this insight to a friend. It gave me the opportunity to see what was an investment bank, which division I would be more interested in, and whether the bank’s culture would fit me. I learnt a lot during this week, and it was a really good experience for me.