Global Financial Solutions Intern Review

The internship was very enjoyable, and it was fun to learn about different parts of the bank, as well as finance in general. It was great to network with different people and everyone was very sociable. Some of the work was repetitive, because I was often given typical analyst tasks including making PowerPoints. The more technical projects were interesting and taught me a lot.

I felt valued because people often came to me to get analysis done, particularly as I was the only intern in the team. People relied on me and eventually began to trust my analysis, without needing to scrutinise it as much. However, it would have been a good experience to also be able to work with people on projects which added greater value.

My supervisor was extremely helpful, and introduced me to the internship by spending time with me to talk through the technical concepts. Whenever I wanted to have a discussion about something, my manager was happy to give up his time to ensure I had a thorough understanding of the technical content. My buddy was also helpful with daily tasks.

At the start of the internship, I was not busy and so I was just learning through the content at my own pace. However towards the end of my internship, some of my colleagues expected lots of work to get done in short amounts of time, and so I was constantly working. I was unable to work on my large project as a result, which was slightly disappointing. A better balance would have been ideal.

I was not given much responsibility, however I was only an intern therefore this is no surprise. Occasionally I attended meetings with senior people, however I never attended a client meeting. In terms of work, most of my work was to ensure that the slides I created had accurate data with correct assumptions. I was asked to do some technical analysis during a project which was enjoyable, and I felt I had more responsibility.

Having joined a completely new field to my degree, the skills and knowledge I have gained will be invaluable. I now know much more about finance, where previously I knew little. I have also understood more clearly which area of finance I would like to go to in the future. I have also developed networking skills, which are not commonly exercised during engineering employment.

The atmosphere was lively. However, it sometimes got a bit quiet, particularly later on in the evening. This may be because of the summer season, where there is generally less activity across our department. It was often quiet at night, where most of the seniors would have gone home due to the lack of activity. However, other departments often worked much later and there would still be an atmosphere.

Campus recruitment organised the internship very well, putting on several events for us to attend and expand our network. These included learning sessions, allowing us to learn about different parts of the bank. We were also able to meet MDs, which was useful for networking with senior people. Furthermore, campus recruitment organised a social event on the penultimate day for all of the interns.

The recruitment team were eager to hear about our feedback, and we had a standard personal objectives form to fill out. This was reviewed at the half-way point, which was helpful as it allowed us to realise where we were doing well, and where improvements were required. There was also online training which taught us about legal issues and compliance, however this was sometimes repetitive.

They are highly appealing, because there are so many different teams within the organisation. The company is split into two (markets and banking), and on each side are various sub-teams which each require specific sets of skills. This makes it fresh and exciting, as there is room to move around within the organisation. Also people can become senior fairly quickly when compared with other industries.

Socialising with other interns was common at events, however it was difficult during working hours as everybody was so busy. People in other departments often had to stay till very late, therefore socialising was often limited to grabbing lunch together. However, I often went for drinks with my team after work most weeks, which was a nice way to relax and get out of the office a bit quicker.

London is very expensive, and the main issue was the cost of food in Canary Wharf. However, relative to the salary everything was pretty cheap, as we were well compensated. Furthermore, the canteen was subsidised and had high quality food. The cost of transport was also expensive, however this is pretty characteristic of London. There was also a service where you could call a taxi paid for by the company if you stayed late.

The nightlife was good, and it was fun to go out with friends after work. Also Shoreditch was not far away, which has a great nightlife.

It was nice to network with other people, which was a nice way of getting away from the desk. However, specific activities such as sports were limited.