Sales Intern Review

This internship was my second internship in this industry and it was much better than my first one in terms of structure, culture, the people, the work and the overall environment during the internship. I learnt a lot more than I had in my previous internship and a lot more than I thought I would prior to this internship, both in terms of technical skills and soft skills.

Everyone took out time from their busy schedules to sit down with me, discuss any questions or concerns I had, discuss the work or projects I had been given or even to give me feedback. In market wrap sessions and during the trading game, the business representatives always listened to our opinions whilst challenging them to ensure we were continuously learning.

During the internship, each intern was assigned a buddy and a line manager depending on the desk they rotated on. On top of this, female interns had a senior female mentor with whom they could discuss anything business or non-business related. All our mentors/buddies/supervisors, both assigned and informal, were extremely helpful in providing support and guidance as well as advice on how to approach various tasks and projects during the internship.

It definitely varied. There were some weeks that were really busy and we had to come in on the weekend to catch-up or finish certain tasks/projects, whilst there were other weeks where you spent most of the day networking and sitting with people as you didn't have many tasks to do. The first two weeks are training and mini rotations so not very busy at all, and the third week is the first week of rotations so you're just settling in with not too much to do. The middle 5 weeks can get quite busy as one gets involved in stock pitches and projects set by the desk. Then the final week again is quiet as most projects are out of the way. In the middle 5 weeks, I worked from 6.15am to 8.15pm on most days.

With certain tasks you are given quite a lot of responsibility. For example, I was set the task of producing 2 of my desk's weekly products which were sent out to the entire trading floor as well as external clients. However, there are some tasks which an intern cannot simply do such as talking to clients or trading. It really depends on what desk you are placed and the nature of that desk.

I have graduated and I'm not planning on doing any further study, so there is no opportunity for me to use the skills I've developed and the training I have received during my internship in my degree. However, going forward and outside the world of academia, I feel these skills and the technical knowledge will be quite important, particularly if I continue in the finance industry. Moreover, during the internship you develop various social and interpersonal skills which are vital regardless of which career path you pursue.

99% of the time the atmosphere in the office was upbeat, positive, and lively. There were obviously times where some people would be super busy or quite stressed which is due to the nature of the work they do. However, I did not have any negative experiences during the internship nor did I witness any other intern do so.

Overall the internship was organised well in terms of the structure of the training week, the rotations and the assessment process. The few things that might be worth mentioning are that for the mini rotations in the second week sometimes the desks weren't aware that you were coming to their desk for 2 hours and so you would turn up with no body there or you would turn up and they will all be leaving for a meeting which meant a lot of time was wasted.

There were lots of opportunities to present whether it be via stock pitches or the final presentation. As we did these on a weekly basis, it meant we could improve during the course of the internship and they were able to track our performance. However, it would have been nice to have some more personal development training and soft skill training.

If lucky enough to get an offer, I would take it up without a thought. The internship has been highly enjoyable, I have learnt a lot and met lots of interesting individuals. The culture of the firm really stands out to what I have experienced at other firms and would definitely recommend it to others wishing to pursue a career in this industry.

If lucky enough to get an offer, I would take it up without a thought. The internship has been highly enjoyable, I have learnt a lot and met lots of interesting individuals. The culture of the firm really stands out to what I have experienced at other firms and would definitely recommend it to others wishing to pursue a career in this industry.

I stayed at home during the course of the internship which meant I saved a lot of money on rent. However, travel via tube costs approx. £300 for the 9 weeks (travelling between zones 1-3). If you want to stay near to the office to save on travel time and money, I would recommend staying with other interns so you can split the rent.

The nightlife is quite good in London generally. Though it can be quite expensive, there is something to do for everyone even if you're not into drinking and clubbing.

During the first week of the internship, we had the opportunity to do half a day of volunteering at a partner school. This involved helping them in an enterprise day type activity. Outside of this, some interns also got involved in the JP Morgan marathon. Other than this, there weren't many opportunities to get involved in.