Global Banking Analyst - Coverage Review

Overall the internship was really good. The people, both HSBC employees and other interns, were great, the work was mostly interesting, the events outside work were a lot of fun, and it was definitely a good learning experience. The only thing that was a bit disappointing at times was the fact that HR did not properly organize the welcome week and some other events, which left everyone a bit frustrated. On a day to day basis this wasn't a big deal.

In my first week on the desk I was given a lot of material to just read, a lot of which I never actually used or needed to use again. Afterwards it was really a matter of including myself in work. I was rarely approached by anyone asking me to help with something they were working on, it was usually me going to them and asking if I could help. Once I did get included in projects, however, I do believe my work was valued and actually ended up being used.

There was a training week at the beginning of the internship. For coverage interns the technical side of this training was pretty useless and almost everyone already had basic accounting skills and the modeling skills just weren't needed on the job. On the desk everyone took time to explain things, twice if necessary, and I always felt like I could ask anyone pretty much anything. This was really where the main support came from, not so much the training week.

Coverage and advisory banking differ greatly here. Advisory tends to start at around 9am and leave somewhere between midnight and 2am. Coverage starts at around 7:30-8am and ends between 8pm and 9pm. For those hours you tend to be moderately busy. There's always something to do, but it's rarely as hectic and pressuring as advisory can get. That said, advisory has times where there is really little to do which doesn't tend to happen in coverage - it's more consistent.

I was given access to everything the team worked on and was allowed to contribute to a large range of projects. My work was almost always checked over before being included anywhere, but that seems appropriate. There were times when analysts I was working with said that it was better for them to complete something rather than for me to help as they'd have to check everything I do and hence waste time. Responsibility was given, but you can't expect too much after 1 week of training and only a few weeks experience.

In terms of degree studies this is limited. My excel, PowerPoint, and accounting skills solidified, but I don't think this will help me too much over the next year. The main learning experience to get out of this internship is for the graduate scheme. If I do it at HSBC I'll be far ahead of anyone who hasn't done the internship as I've seen most things before and am not completely new to the systems. Even at another bank many of these skills would probably transfer.

Very good atmosphere. People are a lot of fun and everyone is very easy to talk to. Depending on how busy teams are they will sometimes arrange team drinks or lunches. All the interns got along really well. We almost always had dinner and lunch together and often met up on the weekends as well.

Just before the internship HSBC underwent some internal restructuring which meant nobody really understood the divisions we were placed in when we started - neither colleagues, nor HR, nor interns. There were quite a few intern events throughout the 10 weeks (networking events, CSR, dragon boat racing) that were all set up well. It was, however, really tedious to get access to all the systems necessary to do on the desk work. All required multiple steps of approval, often involving training sessions for very basic things. This wasted a lot of time at the beginning.

A lot of training and development activities were organized. There were weekly lunch and learn sessions with people from different areas from the bank coming to speak. There were panels with graduates to ask questions about the internship and graduate scheme. There was also a lot of mandatory on the desk learning in the form of online tutorials that needed to be completed. Some of this was tedious, but some really useful.

After Brexit and the general conditions in the banking industry it's not easy to get a job anywhere, but HSBC is one of the stronger employers throughout this environment. The evaluation process consists of everyday work as well as a presentation all interns need to prepare and present in the final week. Both need to be done well to have a chance on a return offer but even then there is still a lot of competition. It's not easy, but probably easier than elsewhere.

This was definitely one of the strong points of the internship. The social scene was great and it was fantastic of meet and work with so many great people, both interns and colleagues. There were always drinks organized by someone on a Friday and often some interns met up on the weekend as well. Working hours vary considerably among interns, however, so this is not the same experience for everyone.

It's London. Many interns lived in canary wharf for the internship, which is almost as expensive as central London at this point. Cost of living was high, and so was cost of socializing. Most bars and similar essblishments have entry fees and charge lots for everything. The compensation for the internship made up for this.

In canary wharf it's pretty bleak and most interns only have time for this once, maybe twice, a week anyways. There are a few bars and restaurants, but that's it. A few tube stops away this changes considerably with access to great clubs, bars, restaurants etc. For once or twice a week that was more than enough.

The hours usually didn't allow for this. There was a gym that some interns made use of during "working hours" but it depends on the team whether they're ok with this or not. HR organized a few events in the evenings, such as dragon boat racing, but for many those were still inside of working hours and not everyone could attend all of them. Apart from that it was up to the interns to organize their own.