Summer Intern Review

I really enjoyed the internship. We began with one week of training. The training covered the three financial statements, some valuation basics and internal trainings. After the initial training week, we joined our respective teams. The internship wasn’t so structured in a way that you get staffed on various projects depending on the team’s need at that point in time. I was given really interesting tasks throughout the internship.

I felt extremely valued by my colleagues. Rothschild is a less hierarchical organisation than the typical bulge bracket banks. Interns are given the opportunity to work with every person on the team including MDs at times. My opinions were also very valued by the team. The team members were also extremely willing to answer your queries.

I have received a lot of support and guidance. For instance, when I received a task, my colleagues would walk me through the necessary steps and potential sources to find the information. They were also extremely responsive and willing to take the time to guide you in your work. If you have any issues with the project you have been staffed on, the management is also very willing to discuss it with you.

Most mornings started a bit quiet but things would soon pick up later in the afternoon. Sometimes I would receive requests from many people all at one time, so the ability to prioritise which task to complete first became really important. I also found it extremely useful to make use of your ‘down time’, i.e when you are waiting for feedback in between tasks, to talk to people. Throughout the internship, I went home at around 10pm which I think is really good for this line of work.

I was given a fair amount of responsibility, especially due to the reason that summer is the holiday period for most of the employees at Rothschild. As an intern, I would have to step up and take the role of communicating with the management team in charge of the projects. Also, sometimes I would take the responsibility of building an entire deck of information. There is a fair amount of deal flow within my team despite of Brexit so I have gained good exposure to different projects as well.

I would certainly say that the skills in communicating with people help a lot in all degrees. I am not doing a finance degree so the financial knowledge I have gained might not be of any use, but the ability to take initiative, to be resourceful and responsive will surely come in handy for my future career development.

The general atmosphere in the office is very friendly and collegiate, and is something I truly enjoy. The people are fun and they wouldn't treat you badly just because you are an intern. They are also considerate, as when the work is not required urgently, they would tell me to not stay late for it. Deadlines are communicated clearly.

The internship as mentioned before are not very structured other than the training in the first week. I guess it is fair enough given the unpredictable nature of the job. However, I would suggest the company to look deeper into having structured technical tasks per se, e.g when the interns have down time, maybe they can spend it on building a model with some sort of guidance. It would certainly make the learning experience better for the interns.

Just the initial training in the first week. Other than that, what you learn is based purely on what you are working on. It is useful to pick up bits and pieces from the job but as for seeing the bigger picture, it is less helpful. I can see that the graduate programme has a lot more trainings and development programme in place but it's not so much the case for the internship.

I believe the future employment prospects within the company is great as most graduates coming in this year are from the internship programme. The employee retention rate in the company is also high as most people stay for more than 10 years. I think the company is good in keeping their people and I would find out if I get a graduate offer from them a few weeks later!

There is a good social scene amongst colleagues but it is team dependent. Some teams like to do it a bit more frequent than others and some teams not so much. It is really crucial for you to know what kind of social scenes you are looking for before you decide to join any particular teams, in addition to whether the industry is what you like. We had a few drinks amongst the interns. If there is someone who really organises these things outside of work, it would be better,

The cost of living and socialising in London is expected to be high, but there are still some cheap eats around and I think there are plenty of options available. In addition to it, the company provides a subsidised canteen and also meal vouchers for a great selection of places. As a result, I would say there's option for people who are cheap and for people with a finer taste in life.

It is in the City so it is certainly not short of nightlife. Although most people see it as an important point, I personally do not care for a night life as a good night life for me means to just go home and sleep. It is just different preference but I am well aware of where my colleagues go during their time off early from work.

There are a fair amount of opportunities, especially given the company has a community investment scheme. The community scheme allows you to get out of work to help out in various charities. As an intern I did not take part in such events as there is only limited time available for you to learn. If I am a permanent employee, I would certainly be more involved.