Private Banker Review

I thoroughly enjoyed the insight week. Everyone was so friendly and helpful, and all the job shadowing roles were of interest to me and very engaging.

I felt very valued. The company hosted a networking event on one of the evenings giving us the opportunity to network with staff including some managing directors of the company. I was overwhelmed by the amount of staff members who voluntarily gave up their time to come and speak with us.

Loads of support and guidance every step of the way. We were assigned a buddy on the graduate programme for the week who made contact prior to our arrival and who was available by email any time if we needed anything. The organisation was fantastic and communication was good between RBS, Coutts and the HR department. We always had contacts we could communicate with throughout the entire week who were very encouraging and supportive. Guidance was also available through various Q&A sessions, where we could ask any questions we had or express queries.

The purpose of the insight week is fundamentally to give us an insight into the company to decide if private banking/wealth management is an industry we'd be interested in pursuing. The scheme gave us a huge insight into the company and assisted my decision making process when looking into future career choices after graduating. I learnt that private banking is something I would be interested to pursue in the future, and has confirmed my interest in the financial industry. In terms of aiding my degree studies the we were given networking advice and interview tips on the first day, however the rest of the week was not focused on skill development but was catered towards learning about Coutts and a career in private banking.

I found the week was extremely well structured. We were not told a great deal of information beforehand, however on arrival everyone was given an induction pack which set out an hour by hour run through of the entire week, which was executed extremely well. The week included an induction on the first day in Edinburgh in the RBS Gogaburn office near the airport, where we had an induction day with some of the other insight week schemes. We then flew back to London that evening. The rest of the week took place in Coutts London office, where our schedules included various shadowing roles, networking opportunities and presentations. The final day consisted of assessments and interviews in order for us to be considered for a longer placement in the following summer.

The atmosphere was upbeat but it was clear that work was the priority. All the staff were hard working, but were also happy to take time out and talk to us and explain their job roles in great detail. The staff were encouraging and enthusiastic about their job roles, which really helped to engage us.

Coutts were very informative on giving us further information regarding both their summer placement, and their graduate scheme.

The insight week was very valuable, and confirmed my interests in the financial services industry.

Our flights to Edinburgh were refunded up to the value of £150, however due to the late notice of informing us that we had been accepted onto the insight week, the flight costs were often more expensive than £150. Our Lunch was provided every day by Coutts and we were able to claim reasonable expenses for travel costs. Fellow interns who lived further away from London also had accommodation provided.

There were plenty of networking opportunities, we had an organised event focused solely on networking one evening after work, and throughout the week within job shadowing we were invited to meet fellow team members.

The opportunities for activity outside of work were explained to us, however most of these were catered towards their male members of staff, and there did not appear to be many opportunities for female staff members.

I would definitely recommend this to anyone who thinks they might have an interest in banking.