Intern Review

I came to Nomura looking for as much coding experience as possible, and as I got to start developing web applications from the first few weeks, I got everything I asked for when applying here. It has been very enjoyable picking up new skills and working on projects with other developers.

I regularly received feedback from the users of my applications, as well as from the team manager. My work had a direct effect on how the team managed their work, which made it feel very valuable. Colleagues were always happy to help out when I was struggling with my work.

My manager did not have much to do with my work, so I turned to other team members for support. However, he took the team members for regular individual catchups, to ensure we were enjoying our roles and to listen to any suggestions we had in regards to the work we were doing.

My work was usually dependent on user feedback to make any progress. This could cause some days to be slow while waiting for some feedback, but there were often other jobs to be done to keep ourselves occupied. There was always the opportunity to seek more work when anyone felt like they were running out.

The level of responsibility the interns were given within my team was dependent on the project they were designated to be working on. My project had fewer users than other interns' projects, so this in turn resulted in less responsibility. I was not under a huge amount of pressure, as I set my own deadlines for my project.

I am very much looking forward to applying the skills I have learnt this year in my final year of university, along with adding the varied skill set I have gained to my CV. The technologies I have been using are very popular within the Technology industry, so I feel this will play a vital role in my career path.

The atmosphere in the office was very relaxed, with colleagues never hesitating to approach each other's desks when in need of some help. This also made it a good atmosphere for networking, because as students we were free to email whomever we liked to request some training in different areas of the bank.

It seems like the company invested a lot into making sure the structure of placements worked for the students. Regular meetings with HR were set up to ensure that students were happy with the work they were doing, and training sessions continued throughout the year. A lot of students also got to rotate through teams during the year.

It seems like the company invested a lot into making sure the structure of placements worked for the students. Regular meetings with HR were set up to ensure that students were happy with the work they were doing, and training sessions continued throughout the year. A lot of students also got to rotate through teams during the year.

From previous interns at Nomura there has been an extremely high transfer rate from placement year interns to graduate roles, with students being able to specify which area of Technology they would like to return to. Perks of working at Nomura are hugely improved when working as a permanent employee instead of an intern, so this also holds some appeal.

Nomura takes on a very high number of interns and graduates, and put in a lot of effort during our first few weeks with regards to getting us to meet each other. The company continued to hold social events throughout the year, and because of us getting to know each other, the students also organised our own social events outside of work.

I chose to live in London for the year, so that in conjunction with working in the centre of London has been very costly, as would be expected when working and socialising in the middle of London. Clubs and bars around the Bank/London Bridge area were very expensive, unless you go searching for Happy Hours!

There were a lot of bars and a few clubs in the Bank/London Bridge area, but we tended to explore outside of this area to find places to go during the evenings, as Shoreditch and Soho were relatively close and they had a much greater variety of clubs and bars.

For interns this opportunity through work was relatively limited. We were not permanent employees so we were not involved in the email chains that promoted activities such as dodgeball games and rugby. However, London offers a huge variety of activities to take part in outside of work, ranging from paintball and escape rooms to secret bars and restaurants.