Commercial Banking Internship Review

This internship taught me a lot about working for a huge firm like HSBC and the internal workings of it. I met some fantastic people, both other Interns and HSBC colleagues, and have taken a lot from their experiences and teachings. I was able to get involved with projects and never felt nervous or scared to ask a question when I needed to. It has given me a great insight into the world of banking and I really enjoyed myself!

I never once felt like I was being looked down on by my colleagues, on the contrary, it felt like having an intern in their team was exciting for them as well as for myself. I was able to ask questions and approach senior management with doubts and queries and every single one of them made an effort to try and make time for me and to answer my questions to the best of their abilities.

My manager was always there to look out for me, but it was more a case of me being proactive than my manager spoon feeding me all the time - and I think this was the best way to learn. I would be briefed on a certain task or project and then I would aim to continue that project on my own and to the best of my ability, however when I had any doubts I would be able to go to management and they were more than happy to help. It is a case of 'managing your manager' however, as it's important not to bug them constantly.

I was given different projects at each rotation and was expected to get on with them and complete them by the end of the rotation. This kept me busy to an extent, however there were some days that were less busy than others. The advantage of this however, was that I had some time to talk to different colleagues about their own specific roles and gained a greater understanding of the team and bank as a whole.

I was given a fair amount of responsibility, in that I was able to attend client meetings and talk to clients with my manager, and was also able to help with basic client queries. This was refreshing as I had heard that at some places interns are given no responsibility.

I was introduced working within banking and have a much greater understanding of what is involved within the sector. I am now familiar with different forms of financial and non-financial analysis and have gained a great deal of insight into how relationship managers and management deal with clients and have their own personal targets and goals. I will be able to take this forward into my future career as a great start to working within a huge firm like HSBC.

Relaxed and laid back, however everyone knew when to get on with work and when to have a bit of a chat. It was a productive but enjoyable atmosphere.

Was organised very well centrally, however there were a few occassions which I noticed that it was up to placement managers to organise and sometimes it was a bit harder to do that way.

HSBC had continuously been investing in it's interns right from the start, but having a 2-day induction gathering at a hotel to giving us all the equipment needed to excel in out internships.

I hope I have done enough to secure a job with HSBC as it really is a company I wish to work for. I do believe that they wish to hire from interns due to having already invested in them, and on my programme I believe the hire rate is quite high for interns.

It was difficult to have a good social scene amongst other inters as we were all based in different parts of the country. However, when we came together there were good social events.

I was able to live at home during my internship so the cost of living was cheap for myself.

Relatively good as Leicester has a lot of students and a few clubs and bars.

There were a few opportunites, charity days were organised by the volunteering committee of graduates and I was also invited to some events by my manager to meet other professionals in an informal setting.