Summer Intern Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my work placement at the Financial Conduct Authority. I was exposed to a wide variety of work streams and projects within my department and had the opportunity to work with different teams to get a wider perspective of how the department works as a whole. I was also able to complete work shadowing in other departments and even do a “swap” with another intern for a day to gain further knowledge of the organisation.

My colleagues could not have been more helpful. They were always available to answer my questions and made as much time as possible to answer them. I felt like my opinions and suggestions were all taken as seriously. When there were times that my knowledge was limited on a certain topic everyone made time and were happy to explain things to me.

My team leader was my first point of call with any queries I had; he was very helpful and very accommodating. He encouraged me to organise meetings with our team and people in other departments to further the work that I was doing. Even my Line Manager made herself as available as possible for 1-1 meetings, reviews and general chats. I had a one to one meeting every Monday afternoon to have a more formal check-in on how I was doing and the work that I had on that week.

As I worked on various work streams within the department I was always busy and had things to do. The internship taught me a lot about how to prioritise as I had to manage the deadlines with the varying levels of urgency of my work. If I did ever run out of work I had a couple of individual projects to complete before the end of my internship.

Within my department there is a very positive and friendly atmosphere. There is always something happening, with people often discussing their work and asking others for their advice. I think the atmosphere differs across the organisation depending on the nature of their work and whether they need a quieter working environment.

The internship is very well organised. We started the process with two and a half days of induction where we were introduced to the other interns and given a thorough but brief overview of what the objectives and principles of the Financial Conduct are. It also included training from Kaplan on the different types of workers and ways to interact with people to gain results. During the internship itself you have two appraisals, an interim and a final appraisal which help you find out how you are doing and how you can improve.

My manager was very keen for me to see as much of the organisation as possible. This meant that I had a lot of opportunities to do work shadowing in different departments and go for coffee with various people throughout the organisation. I also completed work for two separate teams in the department. This meant I got to see the different types of work that go on within the department and the opportunity to see which type of work I enjoyed doing the most.

When we first joined the internship we elected social secretaries who would organise things almost once a week. This included going for drinks, dinner and other activities. We would sometimes meet up with the graduates which were a useful opportunities to get to know them and to find out more about the graduate scheme.

It’s London so the cost of living can be quite high. My rent was reasonable in an okay area with a short commute into work which was convenient if we ever went out after work. Your pay over the internship is more than enough to sustain you living in London but you should keep in mind that you won’t be paid until the end of your first month.

There was an employee events email that was circulated. The events were available to interns such as a river cruise down the Thames and discounted escape rooms. We had a group intern emailing list that we often used to organise drinks, dinner and outside activities which helped keep everyone up to date with what was going on.