Technology Intern Review

I enjoyed my internship from day one and enjoy it more each day, as cheesy as that sounds. I've worked in a few companies before, but UBS definitely has one of the best cultures. I think the people you're around make such a difference. Everyone I've met has been interesting and friendly - my team have especially been supportive.

The best thing about UBS are the people, which sounds cliché, but it's true! Everyone is supportive and they will tell you when you're doing a great job. It doesn't sound like much, but it's very reassuring during an internship to get this sort of positive reinforcement. My colleagues have never treated me like an intern and spoke to me like I was a full time colleague.

I was given a lot of support and guidance by my team. Fortunately it felt like my team were prepared for an intern - everything was set up straight away (others had issues with access to the network) and my line manager had some first day tasks prepared. My line manager checked in on me regularly and I felt more than comfortable messaging him on Skype if I had any queries.

I had the perfect balance. When I set my objectives with my line manager, one of them was to meet people from the wider bank, not just Technology. I've had time to get on with my project, learn some more technical aspects, and network with people in informal settings. Most days I manage to do all three of these!

I picked up more responsibility as my placement went on. The first few weeks were quiet, but positions of responsibility are there if you just ask for them! I definitely thought my project added value to the team which was a great responsibility and it felt like I was doing something worthwhile.

I think the skills I've learned will contribute to any future career I have, especially with the increasing dependency on technology we are seeing as a global trend. However, the technology specific skills would not be useful for my degree as I am an Economics student - other skills like time management and collaboration will be more useful there.

We had a few different Whatsapp chats and in general, there was great banter between us. However, I think the group was perhaps a bit too big to actually arrange anything big socially. Most of us would get along with everyone, but be particularly close to some which is natural.

Being based in London, it's very expensive. However, I lived in London for a year before starting the internship, so I had gotten used to the prices here. A lot of people live at home with their families in the outskirts of London, so they could save a lot there but usually spent their evenings commuting instead of socializing too.

There are two UBS offices if you work in London. One is in Liverpool Street and the other is near the Barbican Centre. In terms of nightlife, Liverpool Street is great - maybe not so much around Barbican. Fortunately, the Liverpool Street office is only a 15 minute walk away and there are some nice bars on the way there.

Surprisingly yes! Although I didn't get involved, my team had some sports events in the evening like cricket. I had the opportunity to get involved in volunteering with children from one of UBS' partner schools which I really enjoyed. As well as this, the art curators at UBS took us on an art tour which was amazing!