Business Technology Intern Review

I have had a good time at RBS over the past 10 weeks. The bank is a great place to work in terms of work/life balance. Work itself has not been overly demanding, but still challenging at times. This internship provides a great insight into RBS as a bank. The structure of the internship makes it hard not to enjoy your time here.

At times I felt as if I was providing great value to the team. Other times I however felt as if my work would not provide any future benefits for the team. Since you are only there for 10 weeks, it is hard for you to take on too large of a workload, especially if you are placed in a technology area which is highly technical.

Whenever I needed guidance, I was given it. I often had to take initiative myself if I needed guidance as the manager and other team members tended to be very busy with their daily tasks. This all really depends on what type of team you get into, certain managers are really keen on constantly supporting you whereas others are too busy to even remember you are there.

Not very. This will all depend on the team you are in, as I was unable to directly assist the team in their daily workload. I was instead given a project to work on throughout my time at RBS, my work was quite independent. This being said, certain days became very busy. For the most part I was able to leave after doing 8 hours.

Again, this all depends on the team you get placed in. For the project I had to do, I was given a great amount of responsibility. The other members really listened to me when it came to my knowledge of the project. I was also allowed a great deal of independence in my work, my manager trusted me that I would get the job done.

The skills I developed weren't particularly applicable to my degree, however I did develop a ton of soft skills that I will value throughout my career. There were a few training opportunities but nothing overly technical. The bank is very keen on pushing for your internal development, amassing skills that will help you with your career within the bank.

People are very nice to you, the offices are all open so conversation flows very naturally with your colleagues. I never got the feeling that I was constantly being monitored, instead the general vibe is very open. The Gogarburn offices are also absolutely mindblowing, it is a massive campus like area with endless stuff to do. There's even a tesco within the office. RBS have really done a great job in creating a great atmosphere within the office.

This is possibly the worst area of the placement. When all the interns arrived, access to integral systems were lacking, slowing everyone down in their progress at work. A lot of information about placement objectives had to be figured out by me and my manager. it should however be noted that the early careers people are really nice and always responsive to your queries. The organisation could be improved.

For interns, the training opportunities are not great. For graduates however, they seem to improve greatly. We were mostly trained in areas that would be beneficial to the bank, for example attending meetings that promote the internal tools used for managerial roles. I believe that the bank improves greatly in this regard if you are a full time employee.

The bank is dealing with some legacy issues but going forward I believe the future is quite bright for RBS. It really is a great place to work in many regards, especially in the Tech area since this is rapidly becoming the largest area of the bank. Although it is a great place to work, you should remember that the bank is massive, with nearly 6000 people in one office it is easy to feel like a small fish in a big pond.

Absolutely, the interns all formed a good group. Very much helped by the bank allowing us to partake in a fundraising challenge with other interns. Throughout the initial stages of the internship the bank is also very good with organising social events. This was a great area of my internship, I have met some really cool people along the way.

Edinburgh is not the cheapest but then again it is far from London prices. Going out for food is fairly pricy but nothing extraordinary. Groceries are fine, like the rest of the UK.

Edinburgh is great to go out in! Especially during the month of August, when the fringe is on. Unless you are from a metropolitan city like London or NYC, I doubt you will get bored of the nightlife in Edinburgh. Had a couple of really fun nights with the other interns in the city!

There are definitely a few social and sports clubs available. The bank doesn't promote too many of these so you will definitely need to seek these out yourself. In the city there are plenty of opportunities for things do to. Lets just say that you likely won't get bored during your time here.