Business Operations Intern Review

My level of enjoyment of the internship varied throughout. It was very slow to begin with and could be boring but by the end I had lots of work to do and got on with the team I worked with so enjoyed it more. Working in Edinburgh during the fringe certainly made it enjoyable.

Again, at the beginning I was given no work so didn't feel valued by my colleagues but by the end I was given a lot more by lots of different people all of whom thanked me at the end of the internship for my help. Other than the work, I definitely felt appreciated in terms of lifting the spirits in the office and received generous feedback in that vein.

I was given a line manager in London who I didn't speak to for 4 weeks and a project manager also in London who I didn't have much contact with. I was then given a third manager in Edinburgh but they were only in one day a week. Whilst they tried their best to support me, just having no one there four days a week meant I didn't feel supported.

For the first four weeks I had next to no work and had to talk to different people not involved in my project just for any work I could get. The following four weeks I was kept extremely busy and had lots of different projects and reports to do. The last two weeks then became the right amount of load with me being kept busy but not having to stay late.

I was given a fair amount of responsibility on my placement. I'd say I was involved in genuine work that contributed significantly to the project I was working on and whilst it was obviously checked following completion, it was rarely edited. This obviously increased over the weeks so I'm glad I had 10 weeks to actually start doing some proper work.

I don't think I developed too many skills relating to my degree but I developed lost that will help me with obtaining jobs and then the jobs themselves. I developed the interpersonal skills you can only develop in a business environment and managed to network with lots of employees who all taught me a lot.

There was a very good atmosphere in the office. It was extremely relaxed and everyone seemed to get along well. At certain times the atmosphere was a bit down (for instance when people were getting let off) but given the circumstances, it was a pleasant place to work in my opinion.

It began very well organised when we worked with HR but after that it went downhill. My line manager thought we started the day after we actually started so was not prepared at all. My day to day manager in Edinburgh was on holiday until my second week so I had no one looking after me for the first week.

There wasn't much training or development options throughout the internship.

From speaking to many employees at RBS, it is easy to move around within the business so this is certainly appealing. It's a good atmosphere to work in and the salary is attractive. The downside is that many jobs are being lost there so job security in the long term is questionable.

There was an extremely good social scene amongst the students and other colleagues. Other interns and I often went for drinks with our own teams. A lot of interns had spoken before the internship started and decided to live together so this certainly made for a good social scene over the 10 weeks.

Edinburgh is quite an expensive place to live and I ended up paying £150 a week on accommodation. Also, travel to and from work and around town is fairly expensive as are bars and clubs. Living there during the Fringe also made it more expensive (although optional how much you want to partake).

The nightlife in Edinburgh was fairly good. It was very varied and we never ran out of new bars and clubs to try. Whilst fairly expensive, learning the tricks of the trade can save a few pennies. During the fringe lots of places have a 5am licence so it's certainly and good time to live there.

There was a fair amount. As interns we decided to play football weekly and there were a few intern events, including a sports day style event, organised that we were able to meet everyone. Each month there were payday drinks which also helped getting to know other employees across the bank.