Student Intern Review

My internship was split into 2, 4 week placements in 2 different sections of the business providing an overview of the company as a whole. The first 4 weeks were absolutely amazing, I found this side of he business really enjoyable to work in and felt like I settled in quite naturally. The second 4 weeks were in a completely different environment which I found a lot less natural to get to grips with, but still a valuable experience!

Every person I worked with during the 8 weeks were warm and welcoming and interested in my ideas and opinions on meetings I had seen or the work they were doing. I felt like a part of the team and felt confident enough to speak up during morning meetings and felt as though anything I said would be valued.

During my first placement my manager was incredibly supportive, I spoke to her almost everyday, just for 5 minutes in the morning to make sure I was okay and knew what I was doing. She also made sure to spend an hour with me once a week to talk through anything I was finding difficult and anything I was really interested in and wanted to spend more time looking at, or anything I didn't want to do - making sure I was in control of the placement and getting the most out of it. In my second placement it was different since my manager had a more consistent present in the office, so I could just go and speak to him whenever I needed, although it was a lot less structured than during my first placement the support was still there.

So busy!! The most important message I was given before starting my placement was that 8 weeks isn't long and you need to make the most of it. Life in a branch is mad because theres constantly people coming and going, so luckily I could get involved in a way was actually really useful for the team by having an extra person out front to greet people and help them. In the office it was a different type of busy, with lots of management of information to get involved in, for example developing spreadsheet tools to help my manager and my team. I made sure in both placements to always make sure I had a job to do, not only to make the most of my time but also to make sure I was being a help rather than a hinderance for the teams I was working in.

In both placements I was given a fairly high level of responsibility. During the first 4 weeks I was entrusted with being able to speak to customers and had the opportunity to get involved in area board meetings and regional phone calls. Especially with helping customers, I was given the responsibility to manage the team on the sales floor on a daily basis, making sure customers were seen to in the right order and in a timely and effective manner. In the second 4 weeks, I was given access to restricted information and given the responsibility to use this data to create spreadsheet tools for the team and area directors to then use in their day to day work.

You can't beat going a spending some time in a business to learn what it is you want to do when you finish university and help you realise where your strengths lie. For me this will be incredibly useful in helping to select the right modules in final year, not only according to what I'm good at but also according to what might be useful for me to know/what skills I need to go and work in finance after I graduate.

In both placements there was a nice sociable environment, with a nice level of chat to work ratio - and always someone offering you a cup of tea!

My first placement was amazing organised, with a lot of the responsibility of selecting exactly what I wanted to do left down to me after I'd got a general feel for the business. I was placed in a busy branch where there was always something useful I could be doing. In the second placement I didn't feel it was quite as well organised, but I still had been provided with a list of tasks to complete, it was just a bit more random what I might be doing day to day, and I often wouldn't find out until that morning whether there was anything specific I needed to do that day.

We had elearning tasks assigned to us - the same as all staff members - in order to develop ourselves into the sort of people they would want to employ and to make sure we knew how to conform to their standards. We were given a full 2 day induction programme where they ran through exactly what we would need to know for the internship, but also through personal development tasks, such as personal branding and elevator pitches. During my time in the placements I was taught how the systems work and about the day to day functioning of the business. I felt that they really valued our personal development and put a lot of effort into making the internship worth it for us.

I would love to go back and work for HSBC, I felt really valued as an intern and I'm sure as an employee it would be the same. There is a clear development path for all employees and lots of opportunities available within the company. Also I feel as though during my 8 weeks I learnt so much that would be really useful and still relevant if you went back to work for the company in the future, so it wouldn't be such as daunting prospect since I have already learnt the basics.

There were lots of volunteering days for us to get involved in with the other interns, and during the induction and farewell day there was a lot of focus on working in groups and building up your network - they are after all your potential future colleagues!! I found that everyone was willing to be friends with everyone and I have stayed in touch with some of them even now the internships finished.

It was organised so that both my placements were within commuting distance from my parents house so I could live at home.

I was placed in Bradford and Leeds, and the nightlife in Leeds is good - although I didn't really spend much time going out after work since I normally I work the next morning! Most times when I went out, it was after the volunteering days, which were in Leeds and London so it was good fun.

There weren't many, but I think that was only because we were there for 8 weeks to get an idea of the business. 8 weeks isn't actually a very long time and if there had been lots of other things going on in would have been a bit much. We had some fundraising activities to get involved in and I often went for drinks with colleagues on a Friday which provided a nice social aspect to the job.