Spring Week Intern Review

I really enjoyed the insight week, and was surprised by the number of new skills that we picked up as I had originally thought that we would mostly be listening to talks as opposed to doing a lot of participation ourselves. I enjoyed it more than I expected to, and overall it felt like a very valuable experience.

I felt very valued during my time at the company - the recruitment staff took the time to learn our names which was a really nice touch. All employees that we met during networking events and projects were very friendly and made us feel valued. They definitely made an effort to make us feel welcome.

We received plenty of support throughout the insight, with people always available to answer questions and ask for our perspective on what we had learned and what we thought of the events as we progressed through the three days. There were sessions held to give guidance on applying for the summer internship which were very helpful.

Again, I was surprised by the number of useful skills we learned throughout the three days, as I had been expecting to listen to more presentations. The group projects were very useful for teaching us about planning skills and techniques and how to put them into practice effectively, and I believe some of the techniques covered (agile, scrum and kanban in particular) will be very useful beyond studies as they are used in most companies.

The insight was well structured, I was glad they changed the structure from previous years to only last for three days as the whole week would have been too intense. The days were well planned out with breaks at good times, the only thing I think should've been done differently was the work shadowing - we had two sessions of two hours with one mentor each time, and I think it would've been better to have four sessions (one mentor per hour) with each mentor in a different department, in order to get more experience of different departments.

The general atmosphere during the insight was really good - as it was a technology hub, the people working there were dressed quite casually which made it feel really relaxed. Everybody we spoke to was really friendly, and all graduates said that they always felt able to ask for help, which is reassuring.

It seemed like the company were making quite a big investment in us, as they provided a lot of helpful sessions that developed skills that would be very useful for working with them. They also made sure to provide us with lots of information about further internship opportunities, and the people we spoke to from the graduate scheme said that they had felt invested in from the start of their journey, with many having completed spring week, summer internships and the graduate scheme.

The insight gave really good understanding of what it would be like to have a full time role with the company, as we were able to spend time in an area that was very nearby teams who were completing their day to day work, and were given the opportunity to do a lot of work shadowing and talking to actual employees.

The insight was really good for helping me understand the company culture - I came away with a really good idea of what it would be like to work there and if I would enjoy it. The work environment seems really nice and welcoming, with the opportunity to ask questions and receive help whenever it is needed.

I found the content really helpful for helping me to decide on my future career path - at first I had been a little put off by the idea of working for a big bank but JP Morgan has quite a different atmosphere from other companies that I have experienced. The opportunities we had to interact with employees were really valuable for helping decide if it was the right kind of thing for me.

I was not reimbursed expenses as I live very nearby the office, however others who traveled further were provided accommodation.

There were a number of opportunities to meet other employees at the company. We had a lot of group projects run by staff members, and usually we had a mentor assigned to each group so we could ask questions in between work. There were also a few specific networking events including lunches and dinners to allow us to speak to employees.

The networking and social event opportunities were well organised and really enjoyable - on the first night we went bowling with a couple of interns which was a good opportunity to get to know the others in spring week as well as ask questions to the interns. The networking specific dinners and lunches were really good as well.

While doing work shadowing, we spoke to a number of graduate scheme employees about the types of things they are able to get involved in. They mentioned societies that do activities such as lunchtime walks, board games and programming activities. Speaking to employees at networking events also gave us the opportunity to ask about this.

I would definitely recommend this insight to a friend as I found it really helpful in understanding what working at JP Morgan would be like and if it was the right place for me. Even if it is not your first choice of company to go for, I would absolutely recommend it as meeting people there was really great experience and the skills that we learned during the sessions were very useful.