This review was submitted over 4 years ago, so some of the information it contains may no longer be relevant.
Rating
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The Role
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The Company
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The Culture
- 1. To what extent did you enjoy your work placement or internship?
- 2. To what extent did you feel valued by your colleagues?
- 3. To what extent were you given support and guidance by management/your supervisor(s)?
- 4. How busy were you on a daily basis?
- 5. How much responsibility were you given during your placement?
- 6. To what extent did/will the skills you developed, and training you received, assist you in your degree studies and beyond?
- 7. What was the general atmosphere in your office?
- 8. How well organised was the overall work placement or internship set up?
- 9. In terms of personal training and development, to what extent did the company or firm invest in you?
- 10. What were the perks on your work placement?
- 11. How appealing are future employment prospects within the organisation?
- 12. Was there a good social scene amongst any fellow placement students/colleagues?
- 13. What was the cost of living and socialising in the area you worked in?
- 14. What was the Nightlife like in the area you worked?
- 15. Were there many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work?
The Role
Very valuable insight into what a career in a bank would actually be like.
I felt fairly valued by my team, but especially at the start I did find myself with little to do. This fortunately did change as my placement progressed however.
My line manager was very supportive and was always willing to answer any questions I had.
To be honest I was a bit bored to start with but as I was trusted with more tasks I was constantly busy. Especially when I had to get everything finished before the end of my internship- lots of pressure.
I was meeting other managers by myself towards the end of my placement so definitely lots of responsibility. All my work was of course checked, but I felt my team trusted me to be able to justify my decisions.
My placement was very specific so a lot of the skills I gained are non-transferable, but I learnt a lot about working with others under pressure, presentation skills and other things that most definitely are transferable.
The Company
I was the youngest person in my team by quite a lot but everyone was still very friendly to me. Big focus on work so not the chattiest of places, but that's what you'd expect really.
There were numerous trips to London for training courses (where most of the interns where) and social events organised by RBS so it was very organised and structured.
We had several presentations about presentations and networking as well as an Excel course; the Excel course in particular was useful even if I didn't use Excel at all during my placement. There was a lot of focus on personal development- the final internship project/presentation and reviews during our placements for example.
Subsidised Canteen
Subsidised/Company Gym
Offered place on Graduate Scheme :)
The Culture
Lots of socialising between the London interns and between those in Edinburgh too.
Edinburgh's quite an expensive place to live; plus you actually work out of the city centre so bus fares did begin to add up to quite a substantial amount.
Good, but expensive- especially on Saturdays. I was there during the Edinburgh Festival though so that was a great experience.
Football for the boys but nothing for the girls. Disappointing.
Details
Internship (1 Month+)
Scotland
October 2011