Business Technology Intern Review

I definitely enjoyed my internship, it gave me a real insight into Business Technology and I learnt a huge amount.

My manager and team were happy to give me responsibility, which increased as they began to trust in my abilities. I think my manager was very good at giving me projects that both challenged me and were within my capability. I was able to make a real difference by putting in the effort.

The support from my manager was brilliant.

Sometimes there was lots to work on but sometimes not very much at all. I was able to be a little bit flexible with my hours to accommodate for this which was really useful.

As I mentioned above, responsibility increased appropriately as I became more comfortable with the work. There were numerous instances where I was relied upon to produce good work and it felt good knowing that I was contributing and actually earning my keep!

There were lots of situations where I had to think on the fly, or quickly develop skills I didn't know I had. We had presentations, group and individual, written tasks, group projects on top of work given to us by our line managers. There's definitely transferable skills there.

I would say it was mostly positive. I think the team was often under a fair bit of pressure which led to some more intense situations. For the most part it was quite light hearted though. There were a couple of social events that helped everyone get to know each other as well.

I think it was well organised on the whole. There was definitely a defined structure, revolving around a mix of assessed work, day to day work and social events. There were a couple of networking events which were great fun and all the interns really got to know each other. It was nicely structured for them to make a decision on graduate offers on the last day.

We had some opportunities and I often received good feedback on my work from colleagues. Training in terms of qualifications was arguably lacking but that was only because priority went to permanent employees. In terms of investment in me, the salary was obviously very competitive which was nice. Far more valuable was being able to talk and get experience from various areas. My manager was always more than happy to let me go off and meet various people in the bank.

They offered me a job and I'll definitely be taking them up on it. The grad scheme appears to offer a great start to your career. There is a clear and direct pathway to management levels and I get to stay in the beautiful city of Edinburgh. The office at Gogarburn is also a brilliant place to work.

This was definitely one of the highlights of the placement. There were loads of interns who were all super keen for the sesh. There were some really memorable nights out and it definitely led to everyone becoming good friends!

Edinburgh is probably second only to London in terms of cost. A pint will set you back upwards of £4 usually. Rent is also relatively high, averaging around £400 p month depending on where you are living. It is a great city to live in though and the salary more than covered it, so it shouldn't put you off.

Nightlife is on the whole pretty good. It's a student city so you have the usual studenty places. There's also quite a healthy population of young professionals so there's some more upmarket places running along George Street. There's something for everyone. With the Fringe on over summer there was also all of that to entertain us.

We had 5 a side a couple of times. Again though, it's a major city and you can do what you want with it. We also had 5 days of holiday which was nice. It's also good having the Festival on as there's endless comedy shows to watch and there's generally a real buzz about the city.