Research Assistant Review

My role provided the opportunity to take on a wide range of work, from presentations to senior management to divisional circulars. This meant my placement was incredibly interesting and hugely enjoyable as I was able to take on plenty of assignments with real impact on the real world. I had a lot of fun working on these assignments and great job satisfaction. There were occasional quieter periods at times but I usually appreciated these times to slow down and breathe!

It took time to get to know the job and the work and this naturally meant I wasn't able to be very useful straight away. Once I got into the role and knew my stuff well enough to be more creative I could be a real asset to the team and they were always happy to help me improve my understanding - they wanted me to be as useful I could!

My line managers were very happy to help me out and guide me during the initial months when I was finding my feet. Once I knew the role better and could start taking on more and more challenging work they were happy to let me work independently but also made sure I knew I could ask for help if I needed it.

It often varied quite significantly with some days being very quiet (allowing me to catch up on work) and other days where multiple deadlines were due or I spent most of the day away from my desk. Typically, I could expect 2-3 hours away from desk a day (not including lunch or coffee breaks) in meetings. I would've appreciated a more stable day-to-day variation in how busy I was, as the 'crunch' days could sometimes be fairly long.

Due to my inexperience it took a few months before I knew the role well enough to be given as much responsibility as my more experienced colleagues. There was a lot of work to go around though and the team weren't paying me to sit around writing team meeting agendas so they were happy to get me involved in 'real' work. I was soon being treated and managed like a permanent member of the team.

The content of one of uni modules is basically my placement year job description. In Economics there can be quite a big gap between theory and practice and the knowledge I have gained has been invaluable. I've learned how to manage my time and workload as well as working independently.

The 'One Bank' culture is prevalent all the way through to working level. It's very collaborative and I could usually find someone pretty quickly who could help me with a problem I couldn't solve by myself. Everyone was friendly and supportive. I could build a network of contacts around the organisation quickly and employees are encouraged to talk to each other and learn about different areas of the Bank on a regular process.

The Industrial Placement programme at the Bank is well ingrained and goes right back to 2000/01, probably even further back. Furthermore, there is now a clear pipeline from the IP programme to the Graduate Program which most of the sandwich students took advantage of. The IP programme could've benefited from more support from HR in the form of networking opportunities and teaching programmes (such as what the graduate programme offers) but the focus for IPs is mostly on gaining as much work experience as possible.

There is a large variety of training programmes and courses that all employees, including placement students, can take advantage of. These range from Excel skills (for all competency levels) to more specific courses on banking regulation, for example. Most line managers are happy to support placement students in taking relevant courses.

I went for the pipeline application from the placement scheme to the graduate programme and was offered a place on the 2017 programme in July 2016. The graduate scheme offers a taught post-graduate certificate, MSc, MPhil and PHD in Central Banking, taught by the Warwick Business School. It's very attractive as 'the Bank of England' looks very pretty on a CV and the additional qualifications (while perhaps not being particularly transferable outside central banking) still offer something concrete to mark the graduate programme apart from private sector schemes. There is very little out there that can offer the same prestige and experience as a central bank,

We were very much a community and went out quite often. The central London location meant there was no shortage of places to go for beers after work and we frequently arranged outings and holidays in groups.

£5 a pint is pretty much the price floor in central London. I lived out in the home counties and commuted in on a season ticket that cost c. £3k - it's not cheap. But the nightlife, the amount of pubs/bars/clubs etc is unmatched in the UK. And once we got to know the area and had various happy hours committed to memory we could usually find somewhere to go.

Central London is unmatched. Whether its pubs or clubs, there's always something.

The Bank of England has its own sports club in Roehampton as well as many volunteering opportunities in the local community. There is also a gym in the building that offers free classes.