Intern Review

I really enjoyed working at Coutts. We were really encouraged to become involved in the work our team is doing, and had exposure to lots of clients - which I'm sure is not the case in all internships. The culture is very friendly also, which means colleagues are happy for you to ask for help, or even some of their time.

I felt really valued by my colleagues. Colleagues have been really forthcoming with positive feedback. Also I have felt that I have been trusted to do more important work for colleagues through the internship which has given me exposure to really interesting tasks within the client group.

My line manager was really supportive. We have had weekly 1:1s and she has been really happy to provide help and feedback whenever I have asked.

I have been really busy on a daily basis. Through the internship there has never been a time when I've had nothing to do. If I have felt like I have capacity to take on more work also, by just asking colleagues around me they have always been happy to offer more work and support with completing. However, on the other hand, the hours at Coutts have been really good: you are not expected to work the typical 'banking hours' - I have typically worked a busy 8-6.

I have been given far more responsibility during my placement than I expected. I have completed lots of tasks for senior colleagues and completed documents which have been used internally and sent externally. Although always checked by people more senior, often my work has been used.

The training offered on the summer internship has been brilliant. We have had lots of talks from senior members of the organisation, as well as training on credit, systems, products, values. My knowledge of the financial services has been expanded greatly during this summer, and will really support going back to my economics degree. Managing a work load around senior stakeholders has also been a skill which I have learnt. In addition, I have had a large amount of exposure to clients and senior figures within the organisation - meaning my personable skills have improved.

The general atmosphere of the office was the perfect balance - people were happy to chat, or help, however it was also very productive too and colleagues were focused on completing work.

The overall internship was really well structured. We had a large amount of training during the first few weeks working within our teams, as well as a first week of central intern training. Regular talks and social events were organised for interns too throughout the internship.

Coutts really invested time in training for interns - as already mentioned. We had a full week of training at the start of the internship, and then regular training sessions continued throughout.

The future employment prospects are really appealing within the organisation. The graduate scheme is very well structured and gives you viability and the opportunity to work within many areas of the organisation. We find out if we have been offered a graduate position on the last day of our internship.

Yes - there was only 6 interns at Coutts in our cohort. This therefore meant we all became great friends, and socialized not only at work events, but also in our own time. Also, there were many events which were organised for just graduates and interns at Coutts, which meant as interns we have become friendly with the graduate cohort in the year above.

I lived at home, outside of London, for the placement. I was able to do this due to the good working hours at Coutts. However if I were to have lived in London, it would have been very expensive. Socializing in London, as expected, was expensive too.

The Coutts office is situated on the Strand in London, only a short walk from Covent Garden - so there were plenty of bars and pubs which we could go to after work.

There were opportunities to get involved with sports after work, however mostly we socialized as an intern and graduate cohort.