Undergraduate insight week Review

I didn't get to actually do much work myself, buy it was still very instructive and I felt really comfortable in that environment. I enjoyed it because I felt like I was learning completely new things which for me were very interesting, but they weren't directly related to my degree which is why I didn't give it a 10 star rating.

I am a physics with theoretical physics student so I had doubts on whether I would be useful in the banking industry but everyone was very reassuring and made my feel like the type of skills a physics student acquires are very much valued in the industry. They also explained to me what the possible next steps could be for me within the company which made me feel valued.

I think the length of time of the insight is too limited to be able to get a feeling of being supported or get guidance other than guiding us through the week, particularly through the logistics of the week more than in my career. Since they did explain what could happen next if I were to peruse a career in the bank, I did feel there was some sort of guidance.

As I said previously, I am studying a degree in physics so I don't exactly apply the skills I acquired during the insight in my studies, but I do apply them often to my extra curricular activities and my part time job, since these are more closely related to the professional world.

There was a sense of structure and order at all times. I felt like there was progress throughout the week and that there was a point to everything we were doing. Perhaps it would have been good to have a few more days, which is why I only gave a 9 star rating, since certain parts seemed slightly rushed.

As I said I felt very comfortable in the environment and with everyone and the atmosphere was also very professional. From the start there was a very warm welcome which made me feel more at ease and by the end of the week I knew where everything was which made me feel like I was in my own environment.

As I said before, I didn't get to do much work myself, which is expected for an insight, but that means that I didn't get a feeling that the company was investing much on my personal training. I did feel like the people who worked with us during the insight were very invested and knew what they were doing, which did made me feel like there was development.

I think I got a very accurate impression of what it would be like to work, not only for the bank, but in the banking industry in general, particularly as a physics graduate. I think that the information that was given about this was tailored to my case, which gave me a good picture of what I could do and what I couldn't. However, a week is probably too short time to get a grasp of every different aspect.

The company's values and the way they work were told to us from the start and it was something that they insisted on very much through the week. I do feel there was coherence between what they said and what I experienced myself, which was reassuring. Again, I would have liked to observe this for a bit longer to get a more accurate impression.

I realised that pursuing a career in banking would mean not getting to apply my knowledge in physics much, but more programming, which is not what I enjoy the most, and therefore that it is not my preferred career path, despite the experience having been very enjoyable. I realise this is only a personal preference but getting a good idea of what this industry is like helped me a lot.

I first went to a day event in London (cityview) where I decided I was interested in doing an insight, and I was reimbursed my travel expenses for this and then I was again reimbursed my travel expenses for the insight. I was not paid but I did not expect to be paid for an insight.

There was not a single opportunity which was specifically for this, I had an opportunity before, but I met employees and I feel like I networked throughout the week as I got to meet other employees and work with them, so a networking event was not necessary in my opinion. I preferred to employ the time getting to know the bank itself.

As I said before there weren't many opportunities which were designed specifically for networking and there weren't many social opportunities either but I think that only for a week this wasn't essential. We did have time for social activities but we organised them independently. I feel like the pace of the week was very fast for too many social activities but I preferred to make the most of the week rather than have a kit of social activities.

I didn't find out about activities that employees can get involved in outside work but I didn't really try to find out or ask about this either. I could have probably asked about this and found out but i had other priorities during the week so I didn't mind not dedicating a lot of time to this.

I would definitely recommend this insight to a friend because it was enlightening and even if I have decided that it is not the preferred career path for me it was still a very interesting learning experience and I got a lot out of it. Some of my friends are sure they want to pursue a career in a different industry after they graduate so I think it would ba a perfect match for them.