Intern Review

I found the insight day a very valuable experience, because I feel it offered an accurate sense of what it would be like to work at M&G. Four rounds of investment simulation were held which were both fun and informative, with talks by people from M&G and employability skills sessions in between. At the end, time was also alloted to asking questions to a panel of recent graduates, where the graduates gave a good sense of there day-to-day responsibilities.

The event was attended by a wide variety of staff at M&G, from recent graduates to executives which showed an intention to really give us an overview of the people at M&G and their roles. Staff itself were approachable and highly accommodating, they answered questions in detail or would refer to someone who might know the answer if they felt they were unable to answer. Overall, I did feel valued.

I felt I was neither particularly supported nor unsupported during my time there. Although I was provided with advice in face to face conversations with staff and during panel discussions regarding summer internship applications/graduate scheme applications, I felt the advice was somewhat generic and not particularly helpful. Although I understand this was done so as not to give greater chances to attendees versus non-attendees, I still feel a greater sense of what is expected of summer interns could have been provided.

I study economics and as part of my degree am taking a finance module so being re-exposed to the terminology and instruments in financial markets served as helpful, if somewhat basic revision. Beyond that, I did not feel the insight particularly helped me in my degree studies but it was immensely helpful in developing an overview of how the investment management services industry operates, what sort of assets in particular it deals with, and how the industry differs from investment banking.

I felt the insight was very well structured. We were provided with enough breaks to not lose focus and the talks by staff usually complemented what we had just practiced during the investment simulation sessions. The insight started and ended promptly but I did not feel in any way unwelcome at the end. It was also helpful to have been communicated the event schedule well in advance by email.

I felt generally very comfortable. We were provided with ample opportunities to network both with persons from the firm and other attendees. Questions at any part of the event were always welcomed and the staff were highly successful in coordinating the events and the groups during the investment simulation events, given the large size of attendees. Food and drinks were also provided.

As this was an insight day, the investment by M&G was not as significant as it would be for a summer intern or a graduate on a graduate scheme. Nevertheless, M&G provided food and drinks, and staff took time of their schedule to attend the event so the firm did invest in me somewhat. The firm did not (at least explicitly) offer to reimburse travel costs to the event unlike similar events I attended.

The insight was very helpful in doing so. Listening to the panel of graduates really gave me a sense of how my strengths could fit, how I would be interacting with the rest of the firm and what exactly I would be doing day to day.

There was great value in being exposed to senior members of staff and recent graduates. Talking to senior members of staff was valuable because it gave me an insight into how they perceive the company's culture, while talking to recent graduates helped me in turn see their perception of it. Interestingly, there was a high degree of overlap for both visions.

I made it clear to me that this isn't really the type of industry I would personally wish to work in post graduation. I feel this in of itself is a valuable insight too, however.

Travel expenses were not reimbursed which I feel may discourage students who do not necessarily have the means to travel there, especially students living far from London. I was not paid but given that I did not do any actual work for M&G, I feel this was reasonable.

To some extent, I would call this the main focus of the event. As I mentioned before, we had two breaks during which there was ample time for students to approach employees, or for less extroverted students to even just simply listen in.

The opportunities were very fruitful, as I described before.

Yes, it was briefly discussed that the company hosts sport events outside of work and there is a sense of community outside of work within the firm. Again though, given the one-day duration of the event, this was not the focus.

I would indeed. It was a valuable experience that gave me an insight into the industry and a insight into M&G's culture, while also giving me a overview of the wide variety of responbilities in an investment management firm.