Summer Intern Review

I enjoyed the internship very much: the company is a very pleasant place to work and the work that I was given was interesting and relevant. I felt like my managers achieved a very good balance of giving me responsibility and providing assistance when I sought it. I had the chance to experience a wide array of tasks which I had responsibility for including communicating with external parties and people within the business. A useful and valuable part of the internship was the intern insight sessions provided by people from all areas of the business as one-hour presentations with questions and answers - clearly a lot of effort had gone into both arranging and delivering these.

I was made to feel very valued in that I was given lots of work which I could clearly see the end result of and how it would be used. I was also pleased to very quickly feel part of the group of people with whom I was working and felt able to ask them for help. People in the business more generally were always very willing to meet for tea/coffee and discuss their role or answer any questions which was very useful. I was in a fairly small group of people in my every day work but the opportunity to speak with others was there if I initiated it.

A good balance was struck between offering support and giving me the space to get on with work in my own time. People certainly always had time to offer help if I asked for it but I felt I was very trusted to get on with my work, including contact with external businesses and senior people in the company - this was something I appreciated and valued greatly.

Though there were some peaks and troughs in the amount of work as projects progressed, on the whole I always had something to keep me fully occupied. Looking back, I probably could have been more pushed if I had been given more work to do - some people may have felt definite deadlines were lacking - but the time I had allowed me to complete my job to a high standard so I did not find this to be a problem.

I was particularly pleased with the level of responsibility I was given as this was one of the key features I had been looking for in choosing an internship scheme. By the second week, I found myself on the phone to a number of external parties and helping to chair meetings with my manager. I appreciated how much trust I felt was placed in me by my manager and others in my team.

The skills I developed will help with my degree studies to some extent but to a considerable extent in my early career and beyond. The scheme was a very good introduction into both the business world and London financial services and has given me a lot of confidence - and desire - to pursue a career in the area. Intern insight sessions were provided by members of a wide range of business areas which was very valuable - and for me, novel - training.

The general atmosphere in the office was professional but relaxed. People would quite freely move around to talk to / ask questions of other people and the atmosphere was quite social too. Several lunches were arranged as well as evening drinks which the interns were invited to. I felt quite comfortable asking anyone for help or initiating conversations.

The organization of the internship really was very seamless. The first day is a particularly good example of this: the morning was spent with briefings and getting to know everyone and then after lunch we were all collected by our managers and taken to our teams where we had things to do immediately. Catch ups were arranged throughout the scheme at appropriate intervals and the social sessions arranged in the evening were of a good frequency, well-organized and enjoyable. The balance of organized events at the start to leaving things more to the interns was well-struck.

As mentioned, the intern insight sessions were extremely useful and on the whole very interesting. There were 10-15 of these, each a presentation with questions and answers at the end by someone from each part of the business, from Risk to Marketing. These were great to achieve a wider appreciation of the way the company is run and the business that it does and it was clear that a lot of effort had been put into both their organization and delivery. This was the only organized training but within my team the people I worked with were very willing to spend time teaching me how to use new tools etc.

Very appealing - the company is a very enjoyable place in which to work and the people make it so. The work I was exposed to kept me very busy and I found it very interesting. From all of my interactions with the people I met, I feel very sure it is the type of place which I would feel at home working. I would consider an offer of future employment extremely appealing.

A particular highlight was a Corporate Social Responsibility day spent helping with gardening / outdoor work at a local primary school.