Risk Infrastructure IP Review

It's definitely nice to get some extra cash each month. This placement year gave me the opportunity to gain a more in-depth view of what it's like to work in the Banking Industry. Can't say it's what I expected it to be like as it doesn't related to anything I've learned in uni. I'm glad I figured out that Banking isn't for me.

I had an internal customer facing role where I work with my colleagues to resolve queries and incidents. I enjoyed helping out my colleagues, it's feels great to get appraisals from those I've helped. Unlike what I expected, my colleagues did not treated me as an intern when I didn't know anything, rather they took me in as part of the team and helped me the difficulties I faced.

We were scheduled to have monthly meetings with my line manager and senior manager where we'd discuss any difficulties that I'm facing or any other area's I'm interested in trying. It's a quite useful session and they're always happy to help out. Only had around 5 session throughout my 12 month placement tho, if there is something urgent that they need to deal with, the meetings are often cancelled but not rescheduled.

I'm usually quite busy at the start of the month and during month end having to run codes and generate reports, but have nothing to do in between. Same for Fridays, as most of the colleagues will be working from home there wouldn't be many tasks to do, no requests, no queries. Fridays are boring...

I was given daily and monthly tasks to complete, it is quite challenging at first but I soon got used to it. Part of my job was to handle requests where I have to be responsible of every request I approve so I do my best to ensure that all of them meets the requirements.

The main skills I've developed were worked based skills(Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint, Word, etc.) which were quite interesting to learn and will be useful when pursuing my future career. I also learned some coding but it was boring but it does not relate to my degree studies at all and I would not want to do any coding related work in the future.

The overall atmosphere is nice. We had large desks, the lighting is good, there are breakout areas, coffee machines and the dress code is smart casual. It's a lively and happy working environment, everyone seems to be enjoying what they're doing. To conclude, it's a relaxing and good place to work.

I'd say it's still a work in progress. The first week was an induction week where we attend different events for an entire week. Some of the things they go through were too easy and some were boring. It's suppose to help us know other IPs better but I just felt that it was a complete waste of time.

There weren't much training and developments in my role. The quarterly mandatory helped me gain awareness in group security policies which will be quite useful in my future career. The only training I received was an Excel VBA learning pack given to me senior manger but there weren't none of the tasks I do requires this skill.

I wasn't particularly interested in the Graduates Scheme as the risk division in the Banking industry isn't where I want to pursue my future career, but some of the IPs did go for it. You do get the chance to apply for other roles (ie. Finance, Commercial Banking, etc.) but I prefer going through the job hunting process again and find a firm that suits me.

Overall, it's quite nice. There are times when I'm busy but struggle to concentrate as my colleagues are talking loudly beside me. I'd really appreciate it if they can be a bit more respectful when people are busy. At times when I'm not busy, I enjoy the noisy office and it's a lot of fun.

The low cost of living is quite nice but the overall environment is just not friendly. Over speed vehicles, smashed car windows shattered all over the street and unfriendly neighbours. My advice would be to stay somewhere close to the city centre. The further you are, the more unstable it is. The neighbours I had don't seem to want to socialize so I stopped trying...

My dog has to stay home alone while I'm at work so on most days, I rush back home right after work. I've only been out once during my placement year, it was nice night out with colleagues, everyone had fun. Leeds is a 30 min drive so you won't run out of places to go!

Not really. We have team activities every 3-4 months were we'd spend some time together. You'd be able to get involved with some charity or voluntary work if you wish. There would also be training events held in other offices but these opportunities are not easily found so if you're interested, have a work with your manager and see if they can help.