Spring intern Review

The insight was a great experience in many respects. Firstly, I enhanced not only my technical knowledge, but also gained a broad overview on the different divisions of the bank and the role that everyone played. Secondly, I enjoyed meeting a variety of new people from fellow spring interns from diverse backgrounds or managing directors at the bank!

As the programme was very much an 'insight' we were not adding direct value to the firm as was more informative than anything. However, I do believe that the Junior Talent Team and the rest of the people who worked at the bank took us seriously and were positive in answering any questions we had on interests we wished to pursue (find out more about).

The programme was great in that there was a lot of flexibility in allowing us to learn as much as we could. For example, if we had met someone we enjoyed speaking to at the banks' networking event we had the freedom to meet with them during one of our lunch breaks or outside of the programme hours. We also were encouraged to ask questions and network and the Junior talent team was always there to help!

First and foremost I really enjoyed learning about Global Markets, my preferred division. I was intrigued to find out about the difference in roles between sales and traders and how equity market determinants differed from those from fixed income.I also believe that I learned a lot from the programme beyond things technical. I learned more about the day-to-day life at the firm and the underlying core values and work culture.

The insight was very well structured. On the first day we were provided with a well formatted programme with an overview of the week ahead, including a fully written schedule, addresses needed and contact details if there was ever a problem. Transitions between activities were well conducted and events were well planned and organized!

The atmosphere was great! Like I said before we were able to gain truly empirical knowledge of how the bank worked beyond finance. I gained knowledge of Bank of America Merrill Lynch's working culture and the firms underlying core values. I also was able to learn more about the activities and programs that the bank gets involved in outside of working hours from charity events to sports teams!

After the insight I gained great exposure to the inner workings of the bank and gave me a broader overview of the different divisions and functions. I personally found out that I thoroughly enjoy working in Global Markets and could see myself working there in the future! I think it was a fantastic experience and would recommend anyone who isn't sure what they want to do in the future to apply!

During my time we were informed several times about Bank of America Merrill Lynch's core values which revolve around the acronym: DART. This stands for; Deliver together, Act Responsibly, Realize the power of our people and Trust the team. These values were then very noticeable in the work environment where core skills like teamwork were evident.

I believe that the insight programme provided fantastic insight into what we wanted to do, beyond banking. The programme allowed us to learn about multiple divisions and overall find out what made us curious. For example I was interested in both Investment Banking and Global Markets, but after this week decided Global Markets was for me and this helped by filling in the gaps on questions that cannot be read in a book or online!

Our accommodation was payed for in a hotel in Barbican, only 5minutes walk from the Bank of America Merrill Lynch office. Our transport to the programme was also reimbursed. Overall, the human resource(junior talent) team were very organized and on top of it and answer emails very rapidly, which was great!

From a networking point of view the programme was fantastic! We had networking events almost everyday and this provided us with the opportunity to meet people from very senior positions that we would not otherwise have the opportunity to meet! It was an invaluable experience where I had the chance to meet people who I intend to stay in contact with!