Technology Solutions Summer Intern Review

The internship has been really amazing. All the other interns are great company and there is a real family feel. There is always something going on at Gogaburn to participate in and the learning opportunities have been amazing. The team I've been working in have been very welcoming and friendly.

My colleagues made me feel very much part of the team and I feel like a valued member. They are always on hand to answer any queries. There is a big stress on providing clarity in the bank at the moment and this was really apparent during meetings which I found really useful. Amongst the interns everyone was very keen to learn from each other and understand more about what each team does.

I had 1 to 1 meetings with my manager weekly which was really useful for going over my expected deadlines and to gain advice and feedback. I also had a graduate buddy within my team who was also very supportive and was always at hand to answer any queries I had.

There is always something to be doing even if its not directly related to the team. There are so many learning resources, so even when I am on track with my daily tasks there is always opportunities to learn more and develop. As expected I have become increasingly busy as the internship has gone on, but never to the point where I feel overwhelmed with work. The internship overall provides a great work life balance.

I felt it was a good balance. The tasks I completed were checked by other members of the team but I feel like my contribution and opinion was valued. I was given the opportunity to lead a few meetings and present during some meetings which was great practice for the future.

In terms of skills useful to my degree I would say I've developed my presentation skills due to the individual presentation we had to give to our team as part of the assessment. This will be useful when I am presenting my dissertation at university next year. I have learnt so much that will be useful to me in my future career, especially the importance of networking and being pro-active and inquisitive.

The office atmosphere was certainly not dull, but then again not particularly exciting either but this is not necessarily a bad thing. It was quite hard to concentrate sometimes when people were taking phone calls very loudly. The office layout itself is very nice and I like how there are break out areas you can go to if you want a change of scene.

Overall I think it was well organised. However I think it would have made more sense to match people better to teams within Technology. For example there were people who study Computer Science and university who were put within a project management team within Technology and vice versa. We were kept well informed in the lead up to the internship which was great.

I attended a DevOps workshop provided by an external company which was a great opportunity. I think the answer to this depends on how much your manager is invested in you and whether they can provide workshop recommendations. My manager was keen for me to go to as many development courses as possible and I had coaching sessions with lots of team members to further my understanding of various topics.

I would definitely take a job with RBS if there were more opportunities in London. The reality in Technology is that most of it is in Edinburgh, and location is a big factor for me. If I can get moved to London on a different graduate scheme I would definitely take this as it is such a good bank to work for with great work life balance.

This question really depends on how much effort you make with everyone at the start. I would have liked to have more organised intern events for everyone to attend. I had a great group of intern friends but this is more due to the fact that we made an effort outside of work as opposed to meeting via organised events.

The rent was really high due to the fringe. It would have been better if RBS had arranged some student accommodation for us to stay in, even if this came out of our paychecks living with other interns would have been better. It is so hard to find reasonably priced accommodation in Edinburgh and most people were spending a lot of their pay on rent which is not ideal. Cost of socialising is no different to any other UK city, there are options to suit all budgets.

I'm based at Gogaburn out by the airport so there is nothing around the office but lots to do in town centre where most people stay. Nightlife in Edinburgh is great especially in August during the Fringe and there is so much to do on the weekends! Its a great city to live in for 10 weeks.

I think there are lots of opportunities but I didn't hear about many. I get a lot of emails about football but nothing else. Its hard to know where to look for these activities unless you get a directed recommendation. It would have been nice to have more opportunities for outside work activities.