Project Management Intern Review

I loved my time at Bank of England. I was challenged everyday by interesting topics and discussions with incredibly smart people. The job was also extremely interesting and intellectually stimulating and I was being given a great deal of responsibility even being just an intern. I have done several internships in different firms and sectors but this one was ust unforgettable.

Colleagues were always very understanding and supportive. Everyone will always say "good morning" to you every day and definitely won't be rude to you just because you are an intern. Of course your manager has to judge you in the end and all the other members of team evaluate you everyday but they are happy if you do well as much as you do.

There are very frequent team meetings so that it is possible for you to keep everyone in the team informed about yoru progress and viceversa. My manager also arranged a regular weekly meeting between me and him where we could discuss not only the progress in the work I was being assigned to but also the route to achieve all the other objectives which had been set for my internship.

I would say that I was very busy. Definitely I had stuff to work on everyday at every hour and it could get more intense depending on business needs. However I have heard that this varies greatly by division and there are divisions where the work is more "cyclical" so they might be busier one week and have basically nothing to do in the following week. But as I said, although I was very busy I have never felt which was too much. I have never had to stay very late into the office or similar.

I was being given a lot of responsbility. I have heard that this can vary as well from team to team but I was lucky to be given a lot of responsibility, probably also because of higher workload in general than the staff available. It was definitely rewarding working on something that matters and being held responsible for it.

During my time at the Bank I had the chance to attend several training sessions ranging from more soft skills focused to more technical ones. The HRs had organized a presentation workshop carried out by an external consultant which was also very funny and probably useful for people not really used to presenting. on my side I enjoyed much more having the chance of choosing among a vast array of technical training courses available to the staff.

The general atmosphere is the office was very agreeable. There was generally a lot of silence necessary to concentrate and work effectively however conversations among colleagues and insightful exchanges of opinions were not missing at all. Everyone was extremely helpful and interested in the job I was doing, senior staff included. Often also there were occasions to go and have a pint after work with colleagues.

The internship was set up very well. The HRs didn't play a major role, I would say that they were involved in the internship programme less than in other organizations. In fact after the first two inductions days they stepped out of the game and we didn't see them anymore. Consequently it was more up to the single manager to coordinate the internship experience and to yourself to book the training/ seminars you would like to attend.

The company invested a lot. As I said there were endless possibilities for training: from online training through a specific platform to on site training. Part of the available training was organized by the center for central banking studies which was accessible also for employees of other central banks/ institutions, while another part was simply internal to the bank and consisted in seminars delivered by internal and external speakers, papers' reading groups and IT/ software courses.

I got a an offer for a full time position starting next year and I am very much looking forward to starting over there! The organization offers extremely attractive employment prospects and it is recognized as an institution of excellence all over the world and, obviously the UK. Also the graduate program that they offer is very interesting and very well structured. Definitely starting as a junior into Bank of England is a dream job with a lot of benefits as well.

The interns organised a number of events and often met for lunch. Though this is something that likely varies among cohorts it is certainly possible for it to occur. Colleagues would also go for drinks or have lunch together so it was never as if you were alone at work.

It was London so not exactly cheap - but if you're sensible it doesn't have to break the bank either.

I didn't really try the nightlife as regards clubs. But I went to various pubs and bars and all seemed nice enough. Again though London prices mean that it isn't exactly the cheapest place to go and socialise - though Happy hours are more reasonable. Equally in terms of safety, London felt perfectly fine to me.

There were some activities organised outside of work. It depends more on the team you are with. People I know frequently met up with some members of their team outside work. This I didn't do so much. Also some people I know were able to take part in away days that were organised, which meant going to specific events, like a city farm.