Spring Week: Markets Review

There were no activities in the placement I didn't enjoy. The insight week lived up to the name, with time divided across every major sector within markets, with fun activities within each. These ranged from pitching products, engaging in trading simulations and work shadowing different desks.

You were put first during the spring week - any questions I had for any employee, regardless of whether I was shadowing them or they were helping out with our spring week, were answered. Everyone was willing to stop and talk to you about your own background and motivation, and we were not treated as just people they had to put up with for a week!

A lot of guidance. Employees who were only with us for a single task were willing to lend a hand with discussing ideas and information outside of work hours via email. Most importantly, we felt comfortable in admitting we didn't know some aspect, and everyone was willing to explain any concepts we weren't familiar with.

Softer skills were developed through the pitching and presenting tasks during the course of the week. Encouragement to step up and present to the employees running the activities was supported, and aside from the technical information we learnt, the confidence on how to present was the main skill. There was a Presentation skills session which explained and showed us how to present ourselves and our ideas to an audience, which was highly entertaining and informative.

Very well structured. We were given the start/end times a few weeks before the week started, and on the first day received a personalised booklet which contained a comprehensive breakdown of our week's schedule. This was adhered to every day, and the time was divided by breaks well.

The atmosphere was very supportive. There was no tension of competition that you would expect at an investment bank - we were all happy to develop each other's skills and help whenever anyone got stuck on an idea. We trusted and were comfortable with each other, which made the week very enjoyable.

They invested a lot of time, especially with the two 4+ hour work shadowing activities during the week, at two different desks.

The work shadowing was key here. Aside from the information provided during the presentations from the different desks, the work shadowing allowed us to understand what employees over the course of the day. The 1-to-1 nature of the shadowing allowed us to ask any questions we had about finance, their background, and what the desk requires itself.

The culture was a topic frequently mentioned by employees, as many people choose to stay with JP Morgan over many years, longer than the average turnover rate for investment banks. This was something we got familiar with simply by being able to speak to many different employees, at all stages of their career.

Invaluable. The week's content, the atmosphere and the shadowing all helped me envisage what it would be like to work at JP, and whether this was something I would want to do in the future. How much I enjoyed the week, and the fact that daily tasks are rarely the same, made me realise this is something I need to seriously consider post graduation.

All expenses were paid during the week.

There were multiple opportunities daily, be it with past spring week interns, new first year analysts, all the way to senior managers of various market divisions.

There were two social events, which were a great way to get to know each other, and the networking events were well structured and were long enough to really get to speak to many people without feeling rushed.

This was not the purpose of the spring week - however, speaking to employees and finding out about their lives was possible and often a good way to break the ice!

Without a doubt. The opportunities offered here are incredible, and the breadth of the bank means its outreach surpasses many other investment banks.