Finance Summer Intern Review

I enjoyed my internship, which is because as well as working for my division, we were also given the opportunity to take on a corporate social responsibility project. We worked in teams with other interns in other areas of the business, hence a good opportunity to meet and interact with other interns on the program. As well as this, the culture at the company made my internship that much more enjoyable, as everyone’s extremely approachable.

I had the opportunity to take on real and important tasks for the team. I felt valued, as the work I completed was then further used by a variety of different members in the team for them to complete their work, thus being able to contribute substantially to my team.

My manager was extremely welcoming, genuine and was always willing to help. In my first week, she explained niche concepts and documents to me, where I could then apply this knowledge throughout my internship. No questions asked went unanswered, as well as there being no such thing as a silly question. Moreover, throughout the course of the internship, my manager also set up meetings with different people within the business, so that I’d have a greater understanding of the full picture opposed to just my own department.

My department is generally busier at certain times of the year in comparison to others. Therefore, at times I was given a sufficient amount of work, whilst other times I wasn’t given enough. However, as the weeks have progressed, I have been given more responsibilities and more tasks/projects to complete.

I was given responsibility, as I had the opportunity to take on a big piece of work for my team (as the individual working on this was on leave). This piece of work was essentially due the day the individual returned, hence I needed to ensure that I had completed it to the absolute best of my ability before then. It was then checked, altered slightly and then sent to another team.

I believe that I developed a lot of people skills throughout my time here, communicating with a lot of people throughout my time here (as a lot of work is collaborative). I also managed to develop my analysis; drawing inferences and solving problems. Moreover, teamwork and organisation were also developed throughout, which is an essential skill to use at university.

When working at a bank, the majority of the time it’s serious and you need to focus to get the job done. However, in comparison to other banks, the work environment and atmosphere at Santander is relatively chilled and much more fun, as people are friendly and more approachable. As well as that, the culture here is really good.

The internship was set up well. However, there were issues with the CSR project, as certain departments we’re unaware of our project and permission to carry out certain things was very difficult to obtain, even though we were told that we had free reign on the situation. Moreover, I believe that it could be improved by giving interns packs of information prior to the start of the internship to read over to have a better idea of what work their teams carry out.

The company invested time into explaining concepts, setting up meetings with other offices/areas of your division (covering the costs of travel). Moreover, with the grad scheme depending on what you do, the company will support you with your further study, which is also a big plus. The company also has a variety of online courses that you have access to throughout your internship.

Yes

Cost of living in London is high and what you'd expect (rent/food/drinks).

Considering that mine was in London, the nightlife is incredible. There’s always something to do (on most nights), so you’re really spoilt for choice. However, the only downside to this is that London is rather expensive in comparison to other areas – but even during summer when there aren’t that many students around, places are still always packed.

We had the opportunity to take on a corporate social responsibility project at the company. We worked in teams to raise funds for Barnardo’s and Age UK, which was a fun opportunity to get involved and meet other interns, as well as other members of the business. It was fun to plan non-work related events throughout the internship.