Summer Intern Review

I really enjoy this internship. I was provided with many opportunities to learn more about the different businesses that RBS operates (such as Lombard, Coutts and Adam & Co). I was also allowed to converse with employees that hold different pay grades in order to understand more about their career progression and work.

To be fair, a majority of my colleagues are definitely more than happy to talk to me about their experiences and work. They accepted me as their fellow colleague and treated me as one too. However, there are some that hold the view that you are an intern and you will only be here for a short period of time. As such, they aren't very keen to share too much information with you.

My supervisor ensured that I was always given the maximum amount of support and guidance possible. There are weekly meetings in which I have to attend and to converse with my line manager the various events that occurred in the previous week and my approaches and thoughts about them. My higher management was also eager to come down and have a chat with me over a breakfast session.

I will say that most jobs in a bank tend to keep you pretty occupied. My internship has the normal duties of a bank employee. However, I was given additional work as an intern such as various assessed learning journals, presentations and projects that will determine whether I was to be offered a graduate role. Furthermore, there will be many spotlight sessions where I was required to attend in order to better understand the operations of RBS.

For my placement, I was given the full amount of responsibility that could be given to an employee of the bank. I am fully responsible for everything that I do in my work and there are strict guidelines that I must adhere to. I was also given much work that I have complete to a high standard because there can be no room for any mistake when it comes to money.

I will say that most of the skills that I have developed and the training that I have received are transferable. I have definitely acquired a better understanding of the operations of a bank before I entered this internship and the various key values that one must have in a bank. I have also understood the level of standard that I must achieve in my work in order for them to be accepted by my fellow colleagues and management. As such, the skills that I have developed, and training I received, have definitely assisted me to a large extent in my degree studies and beyond.

Most of my colleagues in my office enjoy talking to each other. It is extremely common for conversations between my colleagues to be occurring throughout the day so it is rarely quiet. However, there are also times when some of my colleagues start to become serious when they are given some serious work. Those colleagues of mine will then start to be less talkative. Instead, they will be stuck to their desks for almost the entire day.

In terms of its content, it was organised in a manner that exposes one to as many learning opportunities as possible in one's selected department. Concurrently, it was also organised in a manner where the business could constantly assess whether one is an ideal candidate to be offered a graduate role. As such, the internship was well organised in terms of its content. In terms of its execution, there may be some delays at time. But, these incidents are common anywhere.

Firstly, the bank has indeed constantly sent all the interns to various spotlight sessions in order to understand more about the different areas in the business. Secondly, they have also sent all the interns to various corporate social responsibility training sessions. Thirdly, they have also organised various team-building events to take place with external vendors. As such, the bank really did invest in me rather extensively in terms of personal training and development.

Most banks in UK are now closing down branches and moving their offices to more remote areas in the country. As such, I will say that future employment prospects could not be that ideal in terms that the locations may not be in a big city. However, other than the location aspect, I will say that most future employment prospects are quite appealing in terms of the work that one could be engaged in.

There was regular social sessions that were organised. Some were sponsored by the business so one could drink quite a lot of alcohol for free. Some were organised by one's colleagues to provide opportunities to spend more time communicating to one another. As such, there was indeed a good social scene amongst my fellow interns/ colleagues.

As with all big cities, the cost of living and socialising is extremely high. Furthermore, given that all of us became 20% poorer as compared to our European counterparts after the Brexit referendum, the cost of living and socialising has definitely increased significantly. It is possible that one may have to use one's savings (on top of the salary received) in order to maintain an enjoyable social scene during one's internship.

As with all big cities, if one has sufficient funds in one's bank account, the Nightlife was definitely start to shine much brighter. There are almost an endless list of pubs and restaurants for one to indulge in. Most chaps and lasses dress up really well when they show up in the pubs and clubs after office hours.

There were multiple opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work. However, I must say that one may not have the energy and time to be constantly involved in activities outside of work. An internship, after all, is about securing a graduate role and one needs to focus a lot of energy and time in order to ensure that one performs well in his/her internship.