T&O Intern Review

My internship involved a variety of different experiences including learning about certain management tools, form request tools, using outlook and attending teleconference meetings, physical meetings and video conferencing meetings. Although it was interesting to see the inner workings of some managerial roles and decision making processes within the bank, my day to day work was fairly dry and didn't allow me to use my technical skills or area of knowledge at all.

I didn't really have any fellow intern colleagues. Although some had the same title as me, the bank is so large and the hierarchy so extensive that I never interacted with them. Instead I was listening in to meetings with little personal interaction or input. I also didn't work beside anyone in the same department for the majority of my time there.

When my manager was there I was given a fair amount of support (he was on holiday for about 3.5 weeks of my 10 week internship). He helped me with tasks or how to use certain tools (and gave me a lift to the station on occasion!) However, I could have been given more details of the importance and necessity of the role, the terminology in the bank and given an actual project or more specific assignment. A lot of the work was vague and often left unfinished and after a while I felt less inclined to ask for help.

I was really barely ever busy. The days somehow got filled up with the number of meetings I had (in which I just pretty much sat and listened), the odd-job email thread for an issue and lunch. I probably worked hardest on my CSR project (Corporate Social Responsibility - helping raise funds for the sponsored charities). This involved doing day long events like bake sales and the like. Setting these up, getting the equipment and making posters etc was probably my most intensive work. (So I was basically a fundraiser for half the time).

I was given certain responsibilities on my internship. The biggest was the ability to use a request form tool in which I could start the procedure for paying for and fixing an IT issue. I was also occasionally responsible for getting information from and to certain people between business and IT to keep an issue on track. But overall I didn't feel like I had a meaningful amount of responsibility. I could have easily not turned up and no one would have really noticed.

Although my time here was not geared towards my degree at all (despite the implications in the application process) I did learn a few things and gained a few useful skills and experiences. The most useful is that I could probably have more confidence at using outlook and communicating with people through it. At first I was tentative and double checked everything, but I slowly got more proficient and quicker at making decisions and using the features in it. I was glad to get experience of meetings, VC and Teleconferencing as well, as I was unconfident about this at first. I also have a better understanding of the hierarchies of banks and the different roles and the overall structure of the bank. I probably picked up one or two details about banking processes and procedures too.

The general atmosphere was pretty good. People were nice and laid back. There were often charity events, such as sales or physical challenges advertised around the office. There were often interesting small sales of books or sweets down by reception and the catering, security and facilities staff were very friendly and helpful.

The offices were very well organised and set up. The security and facilities staff were very well organised and the general offices were ergonomically sound. Most things had clearly defined procedures and documentation. Although some of this was clunky or inefficient. I felt like my personal internship journey was not particularly well thought out or organised, but that might have been partly my fault for not getting more proactive.

There was not much available for me in terms of development.

While some would have enjoyed the management feel of my role, it wasn't really something for me. Perhaps if offered different areas of the bank, I would think about future employment. But I would probably rather work with a more progressive company who actively seek to use renewable energies and encourage cycling, recycling and utilise the latest technologies.

There was not a particularly good social scene amongst students that I was aware of. There was a couple of social media groups made up, one more formal and one for social chit chat or meeting for lunch etc. I was also in contact with some interns on my site to coordinate our CSR projects but this was not really social and we never met out of work.

The cost in London was extremely expensive. The pay from the internship would not really be enough to comfortably live in your own flat. I was lucky that I had someone I knew to live with or I really could not afford to live there. The food and drink alone was very expensive when compared to other places in UK but I appreciated the diversity of cultures, social scenes and things to do there. London is not for everyone but I could get used to it.

The nightlife near where I lived was excellent. Many different restaurants, bars, clubs and social events. You could experience a different type of cuisine each night, then listen to live music of a genre you like if you knew where to look and all with a well connected transport system. There are seemingly few options around the other location I worked at.

Not really. There were some colleagues who engaged with me about their own personal activities but these were outdoors, self-oriented activities that wouldn't be particularly social. At one office, the team of colleagues had good camaraderie and seemed to often meet outside of work for nights out or similar. This was not really possible with another office as it was in the middle of nowhere and most people had to drive to get there. So organising sports events or some sort of team activities would have been somewhat prohibitive.