Spring Week Intern Review

Overall, the week was packed with activities that were largely, very enjoyable. I felt that Monday was a bit of a drag in the sense that we were mainly just doing 'skills sessions' that were not very challenging or unique, as well as a personality test many of us had done before. Tuesday and Wednesday really picked it up and were the best days of the week.

We were a large class of 112 interns I do believe, and thus I think we were valued to a certain extent, but not massively which is fair. I know other programs similar to this one had 'buddy' systems in place, however finding 112 current employees each to take an intern for a week is definitely a big ask. Therefore, despite no personal mentor, we still felt valued to an extent.

Similar to my point above, even though we didn't have any one 1 on 1 to speak to at all times, all staff were very approachable and if we had any issues we could just ask them. Students outside of London were supported with good accommodation facilities too and we had breakfast + lunch provided every day.

Skills I don't think were largely improved with regards to skill sessions building on aspects such as teamwork or leadership, I felt as though many of already had these soft skills. However, the information we received with regards to the industry and divisions were definitely invaluable and very interesting. In this sense, the information will definitely assist me past my studies.

Every day we had a clear schedule which was followed well for the most part. Days were different and had interesting sessions for the most part - clearly a lot of work had been put into the week. The majority of us felt Monday could have been improved as it was largely soft skills being trained. Instead we could have had maybe small 20minute talks on all the different divisions, so questions such as 'What is Wholesale Credit / Compliance?' didn't need to be asked by everyone.

The majority of us were very approachable, albeit all nervous to an extent. Most people (95% +) were pleasant and friendly, however as expected some people were not which can't be helped. As many of us knew, there was an air of 'be on your best behaviour' as the week did feel like an assessment at times (especially the last 2 days as they were actually assessments) which meant perhaps people were trying to hard or not being themselves.

We were all able to shadow 2 specific divisions in the bank, which meant that employees from the divisions had to take the day off or parts of it off to accommodate us, showing they invested time and efforts into us. External parties such as skill trainers were called in too, but most of us felt that they were likely not necessary for the week and more time with in house staff would have been better.

Despite the week feeling fairly long in terms of hours, it was still 'sugar coated' as we were not working on real projects or work which meant that we didn't know 100% what it would be like working there. However, it did allow us to spend a week inside the buildings and get a vibe of what the atmosphere was like, so we could definitely gage something.

BAML placed a heavy emphasis on trying to help us understand their company culture. Acronyms such as DART as well as emphasis on buzz words such as 'diversity' were drilled at us in a fairly repetitive member by members of staff across divisions. Interacting with many staff members as well helped us understand more about the culture too and they were largely holistic.

The week was super valuable in the sense that it did show me, ultimately, this is a place and division I want to work at. We learnt a lot about the bank, the industry, what they do, what they offer etc. The exposure to real staff from varying levels of analyst to MD was a nice touch too in seeing future career progression.

Accommodation was provided for students outside of London. Travel to and from, as well in London were also all provided (trains / tubes). Not paid but definitely adequately reimbursed.

Plethora of chances to meet and network with employees both in the day to day and at specific events. I'd argue there might have even been to much exposure at times, but then again sometimes there was a queue to just speak to one person that could last 20minutes. The rotations at Dinner were great, but even then you might have sat next to someone not entirely relevant to your division.

Plenty of them which was great to speak to people of all different levels in the company. The dinner everyone felt like was the best of the bunch, whilst others such as Tuesday afternoons were a bit more forgettable. These events were however very draining, especially Wednesday night as it ran over by an hour +.

We were told a lot of different activities that employees could do outside of work such as the charity initiatives such as 'magic breakfast' which were interesting. The business panel also told us about aspects such as societies which employees have in house too, as well as more structured ones outside of work.

Definitely. The week was challenging and tough, but I don't think I ever felt more rewarded. The people were largely great and I met some friends I know I will keep in touch with for years to come not just as colleagues. It provided a great oversight into the functions of BAML, which many of us did not know before.