Spring Week Intern Review

I had a fantastic time at Citi's Spring Insight Programme, and I would be prepared to recommend it to future students. The programme met all of my objectives: acquiring new skills, learning about the reality of the day-to-day job, exploring the different teams and speaking to people across the hierarchy from analyst to MD. On top of that, I was very surprised by how welcoming Citi employees were toward Spring Interns, which spoke well about the company. I deeply appreciated the care that HR put into planning the program.

My buddy introduced me to the people on his floor on day 1, and everyone was simply so lovely and welcoming, from the analysts to the MDs. Even when I visited other floors, the people there were willing to pause for a minute to explain what they were doing and show me around the floor. I came away with a favorable impression of the kind of people that Citi recruited--helpful, polite, kind, and generous.

My buddy had high expectations for the kind of work that he put me on, but he was very helpful along each step of the way when I had questions. He even gave me instructional materials that helped him out so that I could get a realistic sense of the kind of resources that were available to interns-in-training.

After speaking to people who had done spring weeks at other banks, it was clear that Citi had done the best job of providing a realistic sense of the day-to-day in the respective business area. Whether I was working on a powerpoint presentation for a live deal, picking up pitch books from the printing room, correcting an Excel sheet, I felt that I had 'slipped in' temporarily as an actual intern at Citi, which was a great feeling to have.

Very well structured, thanks to the program agenda released before the start of the spring week. HR was very good at communicating in advance the various events and times to keep an eye out for. However, I was disappointed by the inconsistency in communication regarding the outcome of the Assessment Center and hope that this will be improved in coming years.

The live chat webinar hosted by Citi HR was a great way for students to connect with each other before the start of the program. We eventually got a WhatsApp chat going that allowed us to meet other students the night before the program began, which helped us relax and calm our nerves once we realised we were all surrounded by some very friendly, interesting people. This spilled over into the Spring Week, where the atmosphere became simply magical--we were cooperative, supportive and encouraging of each other's spring week experiences. I encourage HR (if it is true) to communicate the fact that there are spots for everyone on the Spring Week, as this encourages a teamwork element into the program.

I do wish there was some kind of workshop just for IBD people where we could establish a common ground in terms of technical skills before we were launched to start work with our buddies, as it became clear that people who had greater technical knowledge prior to the programme were consequently assigned greater responsibility and thus had greater exposure to relevant work experience. However, the buddies were helpful in diminishing differences in skill level.

We came away with a very down-to-earth and honest representation of what the work life and expectations are like in our respective business divisions. My buddy, however, discouraged me from staying as late as I wanted to, as he was under the impression that it was not allowed by HR. However, I would have liked to stay later, at least until 10 pm, as it seems that the work atmosphere becomes more convivial among employees during the dinner hours. For future spring weeks, it would be helpful for HR to be more consistent in their communication to buddies regarding the limits to the work hours for Spring Interns.

Over the course of the presentations, we came to understand what made Citi's culture quite different (in a good way) from other comparable banks. Happily, all of this was confirmed when I spoke to current employees in one-on-one settings, which was very impressive. I saw Citi as a place filled with fun, hard-working, and yet humble and sincerely warm people. It status as a 'relationship bank' and the resulting dynamic of that status made it a very attractive place to work for me.

I was already pretty determined to stick to my designated business division in IBD, but as my desired role involves a certain knowledge of the larger bank functions, I found it extremely insightful and exciting to learn from speakers from other divisions. I also appreciated how down-to-earth the speakers were about their respective division, which made it easy to ask some valuable questions.

We had out-of-city transport and accommodations covered by HR, and expenses for some meals were reimbursed following the close of the week. It would have been helpful to have received 7-day travel cards in advance, perhaps upon check-in at the hotel, as some other bank spring weeks offer.

Yes, we were free to organise coffee chats and lunches with employees we either met along the way or whom we knew in advance. In addition, HR organised helpful networking sessions around drinks and cocktails in various settings, as adapted to the seniority of the invited guests. Of course, the most helpful 'networking' advice were procured during one-on-one chats with individuals from the company.

It was nice to be able to have at least one networking opportunity per day, as the frequency helped us reach a momentum that ultimately turned out to set us at ease on the final day's AC. What also helped make them enjoyable was the quality of the people who came--it is clear that Citi attracts a particular profile, across its business divisions: people who are driven, humble, intelligent, and genuinely kind and open-minded to others.

Yes, from day 1 we received presentations on opportunities for social activities and engagements available to Citi employees outside their work. It was also nice to be able to chat informally with the invited speakers after their presentation to ask them for more personal responses. I was genuinely interested to learn about the Venture Capital initiatives that Citi offers.

Absolutely. It was helpful, a positive learning experience, and far more fun than I expected, thanks to the interesting profiles of the spring week participants and Citi employees. I was lucky to do this insight with another friend from the same school, and we both left with very positive impressions of the programme and the bank overall. We would be happy to speak to future students about the programme.