Summer Analyst Review

I really enjoyed my time at Citi, and felt that the 10 week internship provided me with an opportunity to learn more about the bank and the division I was working in. There was a wide variety of work for me to do, and I was given the resources and assistance needed to complete that work to the appropriate standard. There were talks as well as the time on the desk, which were interesting to attend in order to learn more about the bank/the financial services industry and about the different teams within the area of the bank I was working in.

I felt that I was able to network well while I was in the business - people were generally very receptive to me if I wanted to go for coffee with them in order to discuss more about the role, or the bank etc. This was very useful indeed. Summer analysts are there for a limited amount of time, but just because the time period is defined, it doesn't mean that it is not possible to still have an immersive experience.

There was training at the beginning, which provided a grounding for the ten weeks that followed. Supervisors and teams were generally willing to answer questions, although when they are busy it is not always easy as an intern. Nonetheless, the team put in place resources and people to ensure that project and episodic work is supported.

I was busy for the duration of the internship, with an on-going project and episodic deal based work as well. There was some cyclicality to the extent that some weeks I would be balancing multiple projects simultaneously, whereas others it was possible to focus on a particularly demanding/involved piece of work. Having different pieces of work on the go was actually interesting and made the internship more enjoyable.

I was able to work on live deals, was given free-reign to develop a project independently and was encouraged to speak up if I had ideas about how processes or project formats could be improved. There is, inevitably, only so much that can be done as a summer analyst in the period - and there is a degree of luck in respect to which deals you are staffed on. If you prove your abilities, then the bank will not hold you back from taking on additional responsibility.

I think the experience was useful in learning more about the clients, industry and bank. It has also allowed me to network and develop other softer skills, such as communication. These are valuable in the corporate world. However, they are less relevant in the academic environment and there was an enormous cultural difference between how you expected to learn and operate in a corporate organisation VS in a university. The former is driven by a specific way in which you are expected to communicate and work with others, and the latter more self directed.

The people working in the office are extremely diligent and focused on the work in hand. This environment could differ across desks and divisions of the bank (front/middle/back office etc.) Certainly in the Institutional Clients Group, the nature of the work necessitates a purposeful approach and attitude to the work. It was extremely refreshing to work with people who were so committed to their work, the bank and to their clients. There was not an atmosphere of fun, but this is not what one would expect from a bulge bracket bank. There were plenty of opportunities to develop relationships with peers and other more senior people in the bank at networking events and other HR-based events.

The structure of the internship was very good on the whole. There were events organised by the recruitment team, as well as a speaker series which addressed pertinent issues, such as around Brexit and financial regulation after the crisis. It was helpful to have the combination of work on the desks - which gave us an insight into the role and the work of an analyst - as well as broader contextual information about the industry and the macroeconomic events.

There was a training week at the beginning, which provided an overview of the internal processes and systems, as well as some useful programmes and software for the job itself. There were also on-going opportunities to have resources and internal support to help us improve soft skills, such as presenting and researching. The priority of the internship was to complete work for those in the team to a high standard and ensure that it was completed to the deadlines set.

The internship is designed as the main route in the company as a full time analyst. This means that the process is an assessment of your ability to work in this environment. It is helpful both for the company and for yourself as it allows them to see if you are right for their organisation, and allows you to see if a corporate career in a bank is right for you. There are sufficient opportunities to network in the bank and also to get a good insight into the nature of the work.

Some of the summer analysts were keen on socialising outside of working hours, while others were less so. Perhaps this is a reflection of the amount of work they were given and the corresponding amount of time they spent at their desks. The teams also organised drinks on a couple of evenings throughout the internship in order to encourage more of a team-based spirit. As well as this, HR organised a very limited number of events.

The cost of living was, inevitably, very high. This was because we are based in London (Canary Wharf) and therefore prices in bars, pubs and restaurants are very high. This was not a barrier to us socialising because there are a number of bars within easy access to the offices. In the week, it was not common to socialise (Monday to Thursday) however on Friday there is more of a culture of leaving early and going for drinks.

There was not nightlife, per se. There were certainly a significant number of bars to get drinks and restaurants to eat in. However, in terms of night life it would generally be more common for people to head to the City where there is more of a cultural, as well as a business/financial scene.

There were limited opportunities actually organised by the bank - these were generally centred around networking and were not particularly numerous. However, it was possible within the scope of the working hours we were doing to still organise independently social based events and other activities separate from the day-to-day work that was required of us.