Technology spring intern Review

I enjoyed the placement as I could see many different aspects of the bank. I thought technology within the bank would be less technical and more towards finance but it had much more technical areas than I thought. Developing apps and protecting the bank were the areas I found very interesting.

As a non-native english speaker sometimes I found it difficult to speak to people I don't know very well about technical issues but people there all tried to make everyone feel very comfortable and valued. I felt the people genuinely wanted us to come work for the company and they sought ideas from us at times.

From the basis of this program they chose to take in people who are interested and are willing to try to gain knowledge from the bank themselves so we did not get support for every little things that we didn't ask for. However they were willing to support if we asked for help by answering questions and introducing us to their colleagues.

I learned to network and talk to new people which I was not very good at before taking part in the spring program. Also I could get an insight to company life i.e. how flexible the working hours are and company welfare. In addition I got to learn every aspect of the company and see what it would be like if I was actually working for the company.

The first three days were very packed with different programs which I felt was quite intense but for the next two days they gave us more time to prepare for the group project and the interview as it got closer to the presentation date and the final interview. I think overall it was well balanced and well structured. One thing that was not easy to manage was the 7am coach on the first day.

People were very enthusiastic and asked a number of very insightful questions which surprised me. The workers at the company were very approachable and willing to help despite their workload and loved their work. You could get help as much as you asked for it so you had to be proactive.

They offered a number of programs that introduced us to different areas of the company to let us explore every aspect of the bank and decide which areas we are interested in the most. In addition to that they offered leadership sessions and CV clinic which was very helpful for the future.

It was very helpful as we got to talk to a significant number of people working as a full time in the company who was very willing to explain to us what it is like to work in the company and what they like about the company as well as a room for improvement.

The company had very friendly and open culture. I was shocked when I saw people working in the bank not wearing suits and ties but soon realized that it was because the company didn't force business suits and offered workers comfortable environment to work in. Also the welfare was great the company having all the facilities inside.

It was valuable in a way that I got to figure out this was not suited for me. Before I joined the programme I thought technology in banking would be more geared towards finance but it was actually very technical of which I lacked knowledge and potentially not what I wanted to do.

Had three networking events, breakfast lunch and dinner but hoped we had more time as we were only able to talk to two three people in each event.

I didnt as I didn't ask about it but could have if I asked.