Summer Intern Review

Internship was well organised, with a lot of various activities of both business and social type. I definitely learned a lot during additional learning sessions, stock pitches practises, trading game simulation, teach-ins, speaker serieses, etc. It was a steep learning curve and very demanding environment but definitely rewarding in the end. It gave me a me better understanding of the workplace and the market.

My colleagues were helpful and friendly. They made me feel valued and they helped me learn along the way. They never said no when I asked for help and they always found time to guide me. I was also given a lot of feedback, both positive and negative, but always useful and constructive. My work and my input was appreciated and I felt as an equal member of the team, despite having no experience in the workplace.

It was very busy - I was given a lot of tasks on a daily basis, I worked on a long term project and I had to participate at additional activities for interns. A lot of the times I stayed longer hours, sometimes even 4 or 5 hours extra. However, I can understand that it is the only way to learn and the intensity didn't make my experience less enjoyable. I was ok with the amount of time I spent in the office because I gained a lot from that.

The type of projects I was doing didn't require from me to take responsibility. As an intern I was not entitled to make decisions on the trading floor anyway. However, I was given a lot of independence in terms of running my projects with the right amount of support and guidance at the same time. But I know that if I were to join full time I would be happy with the amount of responsibility assigned to me

The trading floor is an incredibly busy and fast-paced environment during the trading hours, but then once the markets are closed the atmosphere cools down immediately. Otherwise, there was a friendly and supportive atmosphere but at the same time motivating and encouraging to creative work. Every day everyone is very busy and focused on their job. Teams are supportive to each other but one can feel a healthy amount of pressure.

City of London is very expensive and incredibly busy. After work local bars are full of people but there is always space and the atmosphere is really nice. We were going for drinks after work at least once a week, sometimes even three times. Everyone's favourite are Thursdays, In terms of food everything around is expensive and it is hard to get lunch at lunchtime without spending 15 minutes in the queue.

There were no opportunities in particular, but the internship programme had a lot social meetings with no business background purpose. Three times during the 2 months we went to some really nice venues for drinks/food organised by the employer for all interns. There were also a lot of volunteering opportunities and the possibility of joining networks supporting community affairs issues, diversity, LGBT, minorities etc. Unfortunately, there were no sporting clubs.