Intern Review

The internship was a thoroughly rewarding ten weeks - I always doubted whether it is possible to learn professional skills, or whether these things came naturally. But across the ten weeks, I learnt more than I ever have done before, and the people surrounding me were shining examples of skill, tact, and professionalism to the highest degree.

Naturally, the tasks available to interns in the front office of a bank are somewhat limited - mandates are required to properly carry out the desk's job, so as an intern you have fewer ways to add value to the team. However, my desk did try to find as many projects as possible for me, and I believe that my contributions were successful enough for my colleagues to value my input.

Investment banks are incredibly fast paced, so it is to be expected that there are times when management/supervisors are unable to give support or guidance. Moreover, the point of the internship is to try and move away from all the support school and university life provides, and understand how to work in the real world. Nevertheless, when I needed assistance I could usually find it quite quickly.

Again, the investment banking lifestyle is incredibly busy and hectic, so long hours are to be expected, but this is made known to us before we start and is in part what attracts interns to the job. I like having a lot of work, so whilst it was very busy it wasn't 'too busy' most of the time. There was the odd occasion where I felt slightly overworked, but internships are designed to test the intern and I relished the challenge.

As mentioned previously, mandates are required to take on the desk's full responsibility so it was not possible for me to contribute massively to the core responsibilities of the desk. However, a few important tasks were set to me, so that I was able to create Excel databases and tools to assist management in assessing the desk's performance. But sadly, without mandates or access to Bloomberg, my contributions were somewhat limited in impact.

As I have said, I used to doubt whether it was possible to learn professional skills - people seem to either have them naturally, or not. But over the ten week internship I believe that I learnt a whole lot about managing time, working in teams, working independently, and mobilising many different running parts of a large business to achieve significant goals for the company. These skills are also proving useful in daily life, and have ultimately had an incredibly positive impact on me.

The trading floor is a buzzing, loud, dynamic place to be, with hundreds of complex and impressive tasks being fulfilled simultaneously. To be a part of the atmosphere was an overwhelming experience, but in an extremely positive way - it really begins to rub off on you and shape you as a person, and I believe that the atmosphere was a key aspect of my attraction to the industry.

The Human Resources team at HSBC is an extremely impressive team, who seem to work tirelessly to provide an immersive experience at the company. They organised a wide range of events, seminars, lunches, and Corporate Social Responsibility activities to demonstrate every aspect of work at HSBC, and were an understanding and helpful team whenever support was needed.

There was a training week at the beginning of the internship which prepped us for the rest of the internship, involving lectures from HSBC employees, external trainers for the technical side of the job, and a team of professional skills presenters who were perhaps the most impressive of the week (they were also invited back before our end-of-internship presentation to give us help with presentation skills, which was extremely useful). However, on the trading floor there was less training, and no resources were committed to software like Bloomberg to the Sales interns.

The hierarchy of most banks can be quite difficult to rise through, especially those renowned for being more cutthroat in their hiring and firing practices. However, HSBC seems to appreciate long term relationships between employer and employee, and it was evident from looking around the trading floor that there are plenty of opportunities to remain with the company for extended periods of time and rise through the ranks. Moreover, having a pipeline straight from the internship to the graduate scheme was an incredibly convenient and reassuring link.

There were approximately one hundred interns across all divisions of the summer internship program, and the Human Resources team organised events almost on a weekly basis to bring us all back together and socialise. This made for an extremely fun ten weeks, and the trading floor was relaxed enough to allow interns to wander and chat with each other on occasion. Work colleagues were also friendly, and always inviting interns to their desks' social events after work, which allowed for another route into networking, even with senior management.

London is one of the most expensive cities in the world, so living and working there could be extremely costly - especially given that I was used to much cheaper prices in the north of England! Even the cost of basic essentials like eating were much higher, but fortunately the wage in London was enough to compensate for these higher prices. Overall, the experience did not leave me too strapped for cash.

Whilst it is expensive, the nightlife in London is second to none, as one of the most cultured and vibrant cities in the world. From first viewing it is a very multicultural city, which means that there are plenty of different opportunities for nights out, meals, and more. I appreciated this wide range of options and strongly advise it to anyone who is considering working in the city - despite the prices!

The Human Resources team did organise plenty of events, but aside from that there were not many opportunities to get involved in activities off the desk. We worked very long hours and this did not leave much time for anything else. Moreover, with only ten weeks in London there was not enough time to join any groups or sports teams for anything meaningful, so most time was devoted to work, and trying to get a full time job offer!