Retail Banking and Wealth Management Intern Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my placement due to the variety of work and people I was able to meet. I was given exciting projects that allowed me to make a real impact within the company, and I enjoyed being able to meet other like-minded interns.

Many colleagues valued the work I and other interns were doing, and were constantly on hand to help. As I was given very specific projects however, I did not come into contact with other colleagues around me.

I was given frequent support and guidance by my line manager, who was a graduate so knew what sort of help I'd need. I also had other colleagues available to help, as well as many interns who I'd got to know over the weeks.

The majority of days were filled with a variety of work that kept me occupied. The projects in particular kept me busy, although on some days I found that there was little to do on them and so wasn't as busy as normal.

I was given quite a lot of responsibility through the projects I was given, particularly one in my second placement involving social media. This project was important as the recommendations we made had the potential to be implemented in HSBC, and so we were partly responsible for the improvement of a whole section of HSBC UK.

I have developed strong communication skills as well as time organisation. Both of these will help me with my degree as I complete essays and readings, as well as continue to build a network at university and in my later career.

In my first office the atmosphere was positive but focused, as those within it were often very busy. However there was still the opportunity to talk to colleagues, and the team got on well. In my second placement, in a call centre, the atmosphere was more relaxed - helped by the casual uniform. This meant people could chat and work at the same time, creating a good atmosphere.

The internship overall was very well organised. We had weekly calls to learn about different areas of the bank, and a planner that outlined all of the things we should expect to do within the placements. However it was still up to ourselves and our line managers to sort our day-to-day schedule out, and so on some occasions there was less organisation than I expected.

The bank invested greatly in me by providing extensive training and even a day in Sheffield that was focused on the history of the bank and how it operates. This meant that I was able to quickly get to grasps with what was happening, and means that I am already well trained if I was to join the graduate programme with the bank.

The future employment prospects are very appealing due to the opportunities on offer - the graduate role offers four 6-month placements in different areas of the bank, with the ability to move into any area after that. There are also other opportunities including the IM programme which allows employees to work abroad, and therefore I am interested in future employment with HSBC.

There was a relatively good social scene, particularly on intern events - we had multiple socials in London. In my placements, however, there was less of a social scene as there weren't many interns based near where I worked. On one occasion the team went out for a leaving do, but overall it seemed like those in Canary Wharf had a much better social scene due to the number of interns working there.

I was based in Leeds but was living in York, so had to commute over by train each day. This wasn't too expensive however, and overall the cost of meals etc wasn't too bad. When we travelled to London though the prices did go up, and we had to pay for tube tickets/drinks - not too much to sacrifice for a fun day however!

The nightlife in Leeds is typically lively, but there were very few opportunities to experience it as the teams rarely went out on a night - maybe due to the 6am wake up the next morning!

There were some opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work, particularly through the charity challenge we took on. This involved fundraising for the Alzheimer's Society, and meant that some interns did activities such as sponsored swims and football tournaments. Personally I helped run a cake sale within work so spent part of a weekend baking...thankfully it was all edible.