Summer Intern - FRC/GALM Trading Review

"Enjoyment" is a hard quality for me to quantify, because I found some of the most useful and helpful experiences I had on my internship were those which allowed me to discover what I didn't want to do. Clearly I didn't "enjoy" doing these things as much as some of my colleagues, but they remained interesting nonetheless, and they didn't in any way detract from the quality of my experience

Being a bank, this is very much a meritocracy - you get valued based on what you put in. On the programme, you'll be given the opportunity to make a valued contribution to your desk, and your colleagues will really value your input if you're able to give it, and give substantial amounts of support to help you. However, with the busyness of their jobs comes the reality that they are pressed for time, so they won't expend effort on valuing you if you don't show you're worth it.

Support and guidance were provided very thoroughly when asked for, but you need to be proactive about seeking it. This would seem to be one of the main themes of the internship - encouraging you to take personal responsibility for your development. Thus, demanding proactivity is not necessarily a negative feature of the experience.

You will be given some work to do, but it probably won't take up all your time. This time is meant to be used networking across the floor - sitting with people and finding out what they do. Everyone is very willing to do this, but you need to make the first move - coming back to proactivity being a key theme. While people will speak to you, they're obviously busy, so won't go to any effort to help anyone who doesn't help themselves first.

Being given responsibility on a Trading internship is difficult, as obviously interns aren't able to trade on the markets. Even so, my projects included creating analytical spreadsheets that would actually be used by the traders in the field, so you do get to make a contribution. And once you're given a project, you own it personally, and are encouraged to make contact with whoever around the bank might be able to help you secure a better outcome for it.

The initial induction week carried a lot of corporate culture presentations, but there were some really useful sessions on personal development, which presented some ideas that resonated quite deeply with me. I believe that carrying these forward, as well as the confidence I've developed through my internship, will help me a great deal in the future.

I was working on the trading floor, so the atmosphere was quite dynamic, with frequent conversation between traders punctuated by bouts of intense concentration, as well as collective draws of breath when surprising data announcements were released. Some desks were quieter than others, but the trading floor is deliberately designed to provide this sort of collaborative, open-outcry environment, so is naturally conducive to a good atmosphere.

A fairly complete programme was distributed on Day 1, which did have to be updated from time to time as the internship progressed, but the organisation was very good on the whole. A regular programme of internship events was provided, and these were well communicated in advance. In particular, major milestones and catch-up sessions were clearly flagged, so we were able to make the most of these by being able to prepare in advance.

A sizeable programme of sessions was provided, ranging from personal development to MD networking opportunities, so there was a very clear push to help us develop. Again, the underlying theme was that everyone in the bank was ready to help you help yourself, but you had to be proactive about seeking that help. In particular, the opportunities for getting involved with areas of the bank outside your division surprised me, and I would never have been able to access these had I not asked the question to begin with.

While trading floors are scaling down a bit, there were more open spaces on desks than interns, so there was a role for everyone if they were able to meet the standard. Everyone is also on the lookout for good people - if they like what they see, they'll help you find a role in the bank, even if that isn't in an area covered by the internship programme. Obviously if they spot talent they like, they'd rather keep them, and they won't let structural programme barriers get in the way of that.

There were occasional desk social events, which interns were invited to, but it can obviously be a bit difficult to participate in these at the same level as a full-time employee. Several interns arranged social events through the summer, mostly centred on nights out, that were widely open to the entire cohort if they were interested. Generally speaking, people were very happy to get involved with social events, although often a bit of personal legwork was required in the first instance.

Central London, so there's a limit to what you can reasonably expect, but I found it quite possible to buy food and eat out at reasonable prices. Although it's possible to completely splurge too, if you feel so inclined!

Not personally interested in nightlife, so can't fairly comment. From what I've heard it's moderately good in the immediate locality, but being in London means you have the whole city to choose from, so it probably doesn't get much better!

Desk social events were usually extended to include interns, so there were some opportunities. These occurred at such a rate that you were probably covered by one event for each of the two desks you rotate on through the summer. These were the only formally organised events, but I feel this comes with the territory - people are generally quite busy at work, and want to get home to their families now and then(!).