Industrial Placement Student Review

I felt like I was a part of the team form the start and was constantly working and pairing with other people in order to complete different tasks. Investment Banks get a reputation as a bad place to work but in my experience this is not true as it was a relaxed, collaborative and focused atmosphere.

I think I was integrated well and was able to work on a starter project which helped me to understand the working domain better whilst solving a problem for the team. I would be given help whenever I needed and anyone regardless of rank would spare time to help you.

My Line manager changed quite early due to her leaving on maternity leave so it was a bit strange as this was my first experience of IT working in an office, but i guess this is normality in large companies so it was good to get to know a new manager and how their management styles differed.

I always had something which I could be doing. I may not always be working on something critical for the team all the time but I had other projects which were lower priority but more solo led which helped me to learn extra things outside of the norm so I never found myself bored or without work.

My colleagues allowed me to take on tasks which were well beyond my capabilities and ones which would actually allow me to contribute to the teams 2 weekly work cycles. I would be pair programming constantly and my input would be listened to and I would never just be watching.

I have learnt a ridiculous amount in this year. A highlight has been the opportunity to work within an agile atmosphere has been very eye opening as it is so effective and is used industry wide. Another thing which will be extremely useful for university will be my knowledge of Java as I am far quicker and accurate than when I joined.

The office was a very relaxed atmosphere and you felt comfortable approaching anybody so this meant that you could easily have a quick chat to solve/clarify an issue instead of organising an unnecessary call. Also you felt like a member of your team and you would often have team lunches and after work events.

The placement was very well organised the week before I joined was Brexit so my team wasn't best prepared for me as they had been working long hours due to this. But even after a few days I was on my own computer with everything setup. Many other new joiners had to wait far longer than I did.

As I stayed longer in the placement I realised there was a lot more opportunities than I thought. I think you have to be proactive and push for these opportunities yourself as most management will say yes to any training. I attended a day of QConn free of charge and this was extremely interesting and showed me a few new techniques which have helped me day to day and also showed me other areas of IT which I could potentially work in.

Talking to grads I have to prepare a presentation near the end of my placement and then this acts as part of an interview for the Graduate scheme. This is a 2 year scheme where you can rotate throughout the bank to experience what it is like to work in different areas.

There were only 3 interns in IT so it wasn't that great with them but we did go for lunch with other graduates. Other areas of the Bank have more social events with just placement students and also my team were quite sociable anyway so it didn't really matter that there wasn't many placement students about.

As it is London its obviously very expensive compared with the rest of the country. But as it is so easy to get around and the fact that everywhere is always really busy it worth the higher prices as you will always find a good bar/club. Also renting accommodation is very expensive but you are very well connected to the rest of the country so can visit friends whenever.

There were a huge amount of bars in the surrounding area which were usually always busy and had a good atmosphere, Also as you are in London you can use the tube to get around. This means you can quickly get to any bar/nightclub you want. There is also a large variety of different types of bars (darts/ping pong/mini-golf) which make it a great place to live or work

There was always outside of work activities you could get involved in, UBS employees all get 2 days a year to volunteer and there are many events to choose from such as attending careers fairs, helping local kids on sports days and helping 6th form students with CV writing and interview practice.