Research Assistant Review

I enjoyed the opportunities that were given to me as I was exposed to a lot of confidential data which I found interesting. I was invited to meetings with other banks, suppliers and government departments, as well as given worthwhile responsibilities.

This is dependent on the area that you enter, as this will influence the culture of the team you work in (as well as factors such as the age difference between yourself and them etc.). My team were friendly to one another, but it depends on people's individual personalities.

As I sat directly next to my manager and my team, I was able to ask for guidance whenever I felt it needed. For the most part they were willing and able to provide me with guidance, dependent on how busy they were at the time.

My team were good at finding ways to keep me busy at times where there were wasn't much to do, but there were times where I was very busy due to the cyclical nature of banking.

Again this is dependent on what area of the Bank you work in, I was given the freedom to challenge management and processes that I felt could be improved, however anything that would be circulated elsewhere in the Bank or externally were reviewed by management - which I think was fair.

In terms of assisting for my degree (Business & Management), there isn't much overlap in terms of content. However this placement year has taught me different types of skills, such as time management, office culture and behaviour, as well as developing knowledge in data applications such as Excel (and some other less well-known programmes).

This again is dependent on what area of the Bank you work in, however I was free to talk normally in my office with my colleagues about work, and didn't feel uncomfortable or that I shouldn't break the silence.

Our placement cohort were given a 2 day induction to information such as the importance of Bank confidentiality, as well as the facilities and opportunities available to us. After that, the placement experience is widely down to how the area you have been put in has chosen to utilise you.

I was able to attend numerous training courses in the earlier months of the placement, mainly for Excel as this was the tool most relevant to my role. We were able to arrange meetings with different colleagues and managers in the Bank if we wished to find out more about other areas.

The Bank has a well established Graduate Scheme, in which we are invited to apply for, as long as we receive a satisfactory or above end of placement year performance review. The scheme is for 2 years as standard, but there are opportunities to continue the scheme to earn a diploma or even a masters degree.

There were 35 placement students in my cohort. I would describe it as like a class at school, where after a month or so smaller groups start to form as not everyone gets along with one another. I would say that I have a solid group of friends on placement who socialise roughly once a week, but meet daily for lunch.

The City of London is known as being an expensive place, however there are lots of cool places to socialise at as the City is a very interesting place.

In the City of London you're never more than a stone-throw away from a pub or a bar. Finding the places that do happy hour's or discounts are harder to come by, but well worth the extra cost.

There are a range of clubs and activities that you can sign up and join, such as classes in the gym or the Bank's sports teams. There are also other networks that are available such as Disability Network, and various religious groups.