Internship Review

I very much enjoyed the Handelsbanken internship. It was great to meet clients and sit in a variety of meetings, in addition to visiting local businesses. I felt I was able to get a good flavour of what it would be like working for Handelsbanken and I found the culture very appealing. I enjoyed learning new skills such as how to navigate the systems, but also I was able to learn a lot about banking in general, especially by discussing real facilities offered to the branch's clients.

I felt very valued by all the people at Handelsbanken and everyone was friendly and helpful from day one. I felt part of the team in my branch and it was great to talk to the team members about work and non-work topics on a daily basis. I was able to ask questions when I was unsure about something and I was pleased at how accommodative the bankers were in letting me sit in on meetings and ask detailed questions about individual loans and products. It made the internship a lot better to work with a great team.

It was good to have an on-going internship project so I was able to keep busy when there was less for me to do in the branch. I was glad to be given various tasks to do by all members of my branch and I could ask for help if necessary. The branch manager also kindly took the time to ask me about what I particularly enjoyed and wanted to learn, so he could try and tailor some tasks to my interests. That said, I think the team tried to also give me a well-rounded experience so I did complete a variety of tasks.

I was pleased to see clients as I felt a lot on those days. There were other days where the office was a little quieter and I understand there is only so many tasks an intern is able to do in terms of their skills and qualifications. I was happy during quieter times to do some more administrative based tasks and having the project to work on helped. Other days however, one of the branch members may have had a big task that I could help with and this meant I sometimes had quite a full on day, which is great as you feel you are really contributing.

It was important to try and be of value to the branch during my placement and so I was pleased to be given tasks which relieved the other team members of a heavy load. Also however, there was a lot of learning involved for me and so many times my role was more about listening and asking questions so I was able to develop the skills and knowledge to be given more responsibility later on. I think the combination of carrying out tasks independently and also listening and watching other tasks is a good balance for an intern.

As my degree is very academic, I feel I have developed my commercial awareness over the course of the internship. Applying knowledge learned at university is rewarding and also seeing how you can use that knowledge in the real world is important. The skills I received have given me a confidence in my ability to hopefully have a career in banking and I think beyond university my insights from the internship will give me a much better understanding of what to expect and how to go about life in the world of business.

The atmosphere was positive and it was nice being in quite a small office where everyone talked to each other. It is a close-knit team and I felt I was able to integrate well and get on well with the other members. The bank seems to place a great emphasis on its staff having a positive experience at work and to enjoy what they do. This certainly came across in my branch and it was great to be a part of a small and friendly team.

The internship was well structured and a good length of time, allowing a thorough overview of how the bank works. The project was also effective and it was good to visit another branch and another intern to work on this. My branch was not too sure at the beginning what exactly they should delegate to me as they had never had an intern before but over time they were able to teach me how to do tasks which they could then pass onto me. It was also good to have the wrap-up day in Leeds as it helped bring all the interns together at the end and demonstrate how we had developed over the internship.

It was much appreciated to spend time talking to members of my branch as often just asking questions and being exposed to how they do their job is the best way of learning. It was good to have the induction days to get used to the systems and the online training courses gave me a solid overview of various areas of the banking world such as the dangers of fraud. My best training however, came from simply being in the branch; watching how things worked and doing tasks myself with the team members on hand to help me.

It was nice to be told that I should stay in touch with Handelsbanken at the end of the internship and then my branch manager kindly said he would love to have me back in the Christmas holidays. I really enjoyed my time with the bank and I feel that my skills and interests would lend themselves well to a career with them. Also I felt the culture was very positive and I believe in the Handelsbanken values, meaning employment with the bank after university would be fantastic. Whilst I appreciate a concrete job offer cannot be given well in advance of university students becoming available for work, it is nice to know that the bank would potentially welcome me back in the near future.

The bank is a very friendly place to work and the people seem to value getting on well with each other. It was nice to be able to have a drink with a member of my branch one day to discuss banking, and the interns got on well. The bank seems to encourage social events and even on the wrap-up day it was great to have a social session after the presentation and to chat with the other interns and branch managers.

I worked quite close to home and found the costs completely acceptable. The bank reimbursed train travel for the induction and wrap-up days and members of the team kindly bought me drinks on various outings/events. Fortunately for me I continued to live at home during the internship so I had no issue with the living costs.

The branch was in a small town where nightlife is not huge however I was close to the regional headquarters in Leeds where there is plenty of opportunity for socialising. Despite being a small town, I enjoyed working there and the clientele are good. The proximity to larger towns is also good with frequent public transport so good nightlife was accessible despite not being large in the town itself.

I enjoyed some drinks and lunches out of the office during my internship, both with colleagues and the other interns. Other interns also took part in some sport with colleagues outside of the office, which is a nice idea. I also found I shared some out-of-work interests with some of the staff in my branch and so I enjoyed some good discussions with them on topics such as sports and watches! I am sure that working at the bank full time would present many opportunities to socialise with colleagues and do activities outside of work.