Summer Analst Review

Was different to what I expected. I am only half-way through the internship thus far so this may change during my second rotation. I enjoyed the exposure to the industry, exposure to senior figures and having the opportunity to see what working in sales and trading is actually like. The internship has been perfect for seeing whether or not I align with the industry.

I felt that there was little interest in what I was doing, I had to work hard to approach people at first. Although eventually this changed, I felt I was viewed very much as a temporary asset rather than a future team member. Despite putting in lots of hours and effort I was only actually thanked by a colleague once near the end of my first rotation. Prior to this I didn't feel very valued at all.

Useful feedback at the end of rotation, little facetime during.

At the start of the internship there was little to do, I kept approaching people and wasn't able to get much work. In my second week people started giving me work that was manageable, however when I finished these projects they kept asking me to extend it. I felt I was never asked what my availability was like, it was assumed I would be able to do everything. This meant suddenly I was too busy, everyone was asking me to do things. Partly it was my fault for not managing my time. I felt there wasn't mutual respect though, there was an assumption I could do things rather than asking politely.

I contributed to some key presentations and key documents whilst on the internship. So in many ways my work contributed to key outputs. However there were some fairly dull admin type pieces. Mostly my work was used, where I proved my abilities I was offered further work. Opportunity to prove yourself if you have the ability.

Useful and relevant for industry, unsure whether it is the industry for me at present.

Overall I found that my team was very unsocial. A lot of the work was completed in isolation without collaboration. It was a case of do the work, if you were stuck ask a few questions, go back to the work and deliver. There was very little communication or collaboration. Some areas were intellectually stimulating, at least contextually. However, what I experienced day to day was very dull (for me personally). This is for the first rotation. Other teams I sat with were different, I did not sit with them enough to get a really firm view though.

The program in general was well organised, lots of training was also provided. It seemed less organised when I got on the desk. This was mostly because it seemed people didn't really know what to do with me. It is possible it was just my desk, maybe they were not used to interns?

Very useful training week, we had a two full days of classes. Also a number of networking events were arranged with seniors around the business offering help and advice. During the internship HR organised numerous seminars. For the intern trading game there were sessions run to help us, but in an independent way.

A lot of my negative sentiment I feel is more towards the industry rather than the firm itself. I've experienced quite a few big turnoffs though. For example, I mostly found the work dull. Also, the role doesn't allow you to plan life around them midweek (work should always come first, everything else is secondary). I feel I'm unlikely to return to the organisation, maybe even leave the industry.

Really nice group of fellow interns. We all have a shared whatsapp group where we organise activities at the weekend. Lots of the activities have some reference to drinking though (i.e. pub/going out) Regarding work colleagues, my team didn't really socialise or go out after work. There also wasn't a huge amount of communication within the team, everything was very work focused. This may be normal, it differs from my previous internships though.

Very expensive. Hard to find an affordable place in a suitable area. There are lots of rogue landlords is nearby areas so a few people ended up in bad houses and unfortunate situations. This is a general rule of London. It is great that Citi pay a wage allowing you to fund the accommodation, it may be nice if they were to reserve accommodation like some other banks. Given people don't have long after exams to organise housing in London (and short term housing in London is really hard to organise any earlier than within a month of moving in), this would stop people worrying about housing and getting caught in less than desirable situations.

Lots of bars, central London close by

The hours were long. Also the nature of the work meant work took priority. Although as an intern group we tried to organise mid week activities, anything more organised than going to a pub was awkward because people could never guarantee when they would finish, or they would have to cancel and pull out with very short notice. It was near impossible to plan any extra curricular activities mid-week. Being London on weekends there is plenty to do however.