Investment analyst Review

I really enjoyed my time here. I can only speak for my office but it is much more relaxed than other jobs within the industry which really gives you time to focus on personal development and learn about the industry.

Mercer prides itself on strong team spirit among colleagues. This meant that everyone I worked with took the time to tell me exactly what I needed to do which in turn meant I picked things up faster and was a more useful member of the team. I was given real client work from a very early stage but I had people around me to ask for help which made the process less daunting.

As with all of my colleagues throughout my time here, my supervisor went above and beyond to help me not only get through my time in the office but also to help me plan my future career.

As mentioned before, although working in the financial industry, working at Mercer is much more relaxed and less time pressured than experiences of people working in investment banks etc. You can usually find something to do but there is a lot of training to begin with and until you get up to speed the work can sometimes be less exciting. Even when there is less to do, colleagues were always keen to pass stimulating reading material my way and we often discussed things we had read over lunch after.

The way Mercer works is that everything you do that goes to a client gets peer reviewed. This provides a safety net and allowed me to take on much more complicated work knowing that at least two other people would look over it before it went to a client. I worked on a lot of client work including quarterly reports as well as contributing to internal documents. By the end of my time here I was confident doing a wide range of work and therefore was able to work on a number of clients and didn't require someone looking over my shoulder the whole time.

A lot of the training is very sector specific and therefore less transferable to my degree. However this said, I had a wide exposure to the financial industry and although this experience may not be relevant to my studies, it certainly has made me a more knowledgeable individual and the experience is more relevant to my future career instead. There are of course skills that have been developed that will help with studies such as my report writing and understanding of financial instruments but this really depends what course you do.

I worked at a regional office which had a relaxed environment at times and felt much more informal than the head office. Everyone got along very well and there was a real sense of everyone helping each other out regardless of whether they were working on the same client or worked in a different department. There were also many social events within the office which provided great opportunities to socialise outside of work and strengthen work relationships.

In the run up to the internship it felt less organised and the security checks were a pain to complete. Once I arrived for my first day it was much more organised. I had plenty of training and team members brought me up to speed on the clients I would be working on and outlined the tasks they needed to complete over the time I would be there. From then on it was up to me to organise myself to make sure I got my work out in time and also make sure I had work to do. There is no set task list for interns so you have to be willing to ask where you can help and take what ever jobs are given to you. The more you do, the more you can prove your ability and the better the jobs get.

To begin with the training was more revolved around telling you what the company did but there were some key skills sessions such as the more advanced features of Excel which proved invaluable during my time here. There weren't that many formal training sessions, most of the training was learning on the job such as how to use the key tools used from day to day. Without this I would have been unable to complete the simplest of tasks. I have come a long way in my time here so in that respect I feel I would be much better suited to start a full time position here compared to someone who has no experience within the company which proves Mercer have invested in my future and it has been successful.

I would certainly consider working at Mercer in the future. It is a nice balance of working in the financial sector but without having to sacrifice your life for the job. As long as I worked hard during the day I was out at a reasonable time which meant I had plenty of free time to relax and get ready for the following day. The career prospects are also very good and there is a lot of time given for study towards professional qualifications.

I always had something planned either with my colleagues or at networking events hosted by the investment banks. This was an integral part of why the team functioned so well together as even the more senior team members came to social events in a much more informal manner which helped get to know everyone.

I worked in the Woking office and lived in Guildford over the summer. This is a much cheaper alternative to working and living in London. I lived in student halls which wasn't too bad. I drove to the office and parked about a 10 minute walk from the office in the closest free parking area. You get paid enough to partake in all the social events but you probably won't finish the internship with much left over.

Woking itself doesn't offer much in the way of nightlife. There are a couple of pubs near the office that we would visit after work but luckily you are only 30 minutes from London on the train and Guildford is very close by and offers a slightly better selection of drinking establishments.

There were quite a few events over my internship not only with my colleagues but with the investment banks who hosted networking events ranging from cricket matches, dinners and networking drinks. We also had team meals and often went to the pub on a Friday after work or to celebrate someone passing an exam.