Spring Intern Review

The spring insight week at Citi was very enjoyable. There are various networking events and different talks put on throughout the week. This gives a great opportunity to meet workers from all divisions and get to know the other interns. Work shadowing sessions are also very enjoyable as the teams are very charismatic.

Everybody is so friendly at Citi, from HR when you first come in, all the way up to the MD's of each division. HR are great at making everybody feel relaxed on the first day and then provide support of all kinds throughout the week. Workers are also always friendly and keen to chat, even if they are very busy.

HR provide support in general throughout the week - there is a session every day with them which is a good opportunity to find the right support. Buddies assigned within the business team provide support in terms of providing work and helping you with any specific queries while doing work shadowing.

The talks are very informative, from the latest economic forecasts to explaining technical data/analysis. This is the same on the work shadowing where a much greater understanding of various concepts and their interaction can be developed through the exposure to these in the work that Citi do. Soft skills are also developed greatly by the encouragement to meet many people.

Everything was very well planned and ran seamlessly. A booklet including names/itineraries and tips for the week was provided on day one. There was always something to do, whether it be a talk provided by HR or work given by the business team. We were gradually introduced to everything and meals etc. were always provided.

The atmosphere is very friendly, from both Citi employees and the interns. Everybody is very friendly and helpful, always encouraging the interns to ask questions and get involved in their work. The interns are always helping each other out, and are also sociable throughout the week. In general, there was no pressure placed on us.

Insights into various business areas are provided to ensure everybody fully understands the work that each team does. They are keen to fast-track candidates for assessment centers for summer internships, so are always encouraging interns to do more and present themselves positively. Advice on AC's is also provided throughout the week.

Working with the teams during work shadowing allowed me to understand the work of each individual with each team. All workers are very keen to tell you about their experiences and how they have got there. From this, I developed a real understanding of the work they do and what it would be like to work at Citi.

The culture is presented throughout the week, but mostly implicitly from the business teams. Through hearing their experiences I understood the very friendly atmosphere and culture that employees work under at Citi. Due to the frequency of rotations among employees, I also understood how that culture differed around the world.

The content was varied, some aimed at specific business areas and other more general. Networking sessions allowed us to interact with all areas and understand the work they do directly from the employees. Work shadowing placed us right into the work they do, helping us to assess whether we would want to work in such a division.

All train/plane fares are reimbursed, including tube for the duration of the week. On all days apart from one, lunch and dinner are provided by Citi when we were at the offices. This is of a very good standard and there was plenty to go round. When meals were not provided, we we could claim it on expenses.

Every employee is very keen for meeting to discuss their role and answer questions. My buddy in particular put me in touch with other business areas so that I could get a feel for the different work that they did. Two networking events also provided ample opportunity to network and employees.

There was always good food/drink provided. All employees were very approachable and interested to hear out questions. These were after the days work, so some people did struggle with them. However, they were enjoyable and there was a good split between senior employees and junior analysts to provide different perspectives.

Presentations from the Citi foundation provided an insight into the charity work that Citi employees can get themselves involved in. More generally, they appear to be very social and are always attending social events/doing things together. This can be as simple as going for drinks and is certainly helped by the encompassing atmosphere at Citi.

Definitely. The experience gained from the week has been invaluable. In terms of technically, my abilities have come on massively, and more generally it has made me far more confident to use my initiative and initiate conversation with different people. It is also very enjoyable, without being too pressurizing as can be in some other banks.