Summer Intern Review

The FCA has a great culture where everyone is very friendly and happy to help. During my time at the FCA I approched multiple people to arrange chats about what they do, even people not in my own division. They were extreemly accomodating and happy to meet. The work was interesting and sometimes challenging. It definatly is a place to grow and develop with a learning environment.

The people around me, even though I was not working directly with them made an effort to include me when they went out for lunch and even just for chats in the office, this way I felt a lot more comfortable in the office. They valued my work and always gave positive feedback which really helped me to keep motivated.

My manager himself, although very supportive was also very busy. This meant I often worked under a lead assosiate within the team. This in itself was not a bad thing, the person I worked under was extreemly supportive, not only in matters about work but also about career options in general and I've always found that having someone to talk with about career options is so helpful. I have met with my manager and albeit busy he did ask for feedback on my progress from others and has kept an eye on me in general so I feel that he has made the effort to talk to me.

This was a big issue for me personally, I do tend to work pretty quickly and I felt that there was not enough work to accomodate my speed. This was a big issue when I initally started the internship as I had not much to do for the first week or so. This left me feeling pretty frustraited as every time I would ask for work there was none and by the end of it I felt like I was annoying my co-workers. I spoke to my manager about this though and he was great, he immediatly arranged more work for me and I've been busy enough for the rest of the internship. I did however feel like I haven't been challenged enough but when I was challenged I really enjoyed it.

I was not given a lot of responsibility in terms of high profile work or work that was present to very senior people. I did present to senior managers and co-ran a project to implement a tool across my division, this was a lot of responsibility however I was supported in my actions and therefore it wasn't daunting. Also, I took responsibility of what I wanted to achieve from the internship, which people I wanted to talk to and the teams I wanted to shadow so overall I felt I was given some responsibility, just not in the conventional sense.

The skills I developed will help me in the future, especially when I begin working as I wish to remain in this field. I learnt soft skills such as asking for work and also to ask for work before you finish your current task as to not be waiting for work. Also its important to learn what to do with free time, I think, personally, its easier to cope with loads of work rather than deal with long empty stretches of time - this was a real challange for me. I did things like e-learning and organise chats with people in different departments to fill my time and ended up learning a great deal from them.

The general atmosphere in the office was really friendly and nice. People are so willing to talk and chat - this made the FCA such a nice place to work. Also, it was great that a grad buddy was appointed to each intern, I had someone to ask for advice and I even arranged some work shadowing through my grad buddy. Also the other graduates in my division were extreemly helpful - providing advice and we would meet for catch-ups. Initally when I had little work one of the graduates gave me some work and this gave me a really good insight into his team and what they do.

Overall, I feel like the first few days of training and the social event in the first week was well organised. However I think the teams could be better placed as I felt that it should be ensured that people have enough work. Also, the managers reviews etc should be better structured, for instance I was not aware that we had to set objectives at the start of my internship and I think this hindered me a little from really progressing.

Initially we had three days of induction and training. This was great, not only to get to know our fellow interns but also to really get a feel for the company and develop some key skills. Learning lunches were also conducted which were a great way to learn more about the other divisions within the FCA and meet the graduates and hear what they think of the grad scheme.

What makes the FCA such an appealing place to work is the culture. People are so genuine and nice. Also, I feel that the FCA is a great place to develop and get a tool set. Also the grad scheme in itself is appealing in that there are multiple rotations and an external secondment which woudl really give me a feel for the industry as a whole.

There was, we always sat together at lunch and went for drinks and lunches outside of work. I felt that initially maybe HR could have helped to get the ball rolling, maybe to start by organising a couple weeks drinks (not buying loads of drinks or anything, just a venue) then the interns can organise more within ourselves.

I lived at home so not sure about the cost of living - London is London though so I imagine not that cheap. Socialising - drinks are expensive but as a group you can find places that are cheaper or have deals going on so you can make it work.

I think it was pretty good, people do stay out to socialise and it's a nice atmosphere around Canary Wharf but I'm not one to stay out incredibly late so I can't be sure.

HR organised a Corporate Responisbility day and there was one in my division as well. I only went to the one HR organised and it was overall a really good day out of the office and making a difference. They also have staff fairs as well as clubs and sociaties to join so there's lots of opportunites to get involved out of work.