Financial Crime Assurance Summer Analyst Review

Overall, I have thoroughly enjoyed the internship. People were friendly and I got a good mix of work to get a well rounded experience and understanding of the work and the firm. It is also in a field that I am interested in, and therefore supported my excitement and desire to further progress in the field.

Initially, I was not given a lot of responsibility and had to mainly work on 'ad hoc' work, but as time went on and I took on more tasks, I was given more and more responsibility. I now feel more valued and that I can add real value to the work of my team.

Due to the nature of the work, sometimes I was quite busy (having to stay an hour or so after work), but at other times I had capacity. However, in instances where I had capacity, I could approach members of my team for work, and they were willing to help if need be. We also had quiz training modules to do which helped to fill up down time.

Because I would like to go into a similar field in the future, the skills here will be highly transferable to my future career. I also improved my professional and business skills, and expanded my network greatly. This will be extremely valuable as I continue to progress in my career.

The team is not the most exciting (general nature of the 'functions' part of the business where people tend to be more reserved), but there are still regular team lunches and people are generally friendly and polite. People are also very understanding that I am an intern and would not want to stress me out too much.

Although the on boarding process could be improved, the organisation was generally not too badly done. We were able to give preference for the team we would like to be placed in, and generally had all our equipment set up when we joined. However, IT could be improved, for example I did not have access to the telephone and many systems I required for work for over two weeks.

In addition to an initial two day training course, we had many training sessions (including a few full day ones) that ranged from soft skills to business development and insight into the business area we were in. There were also many training huddles within different teams of our business area.

The conversion rate to the graduate programme from their internship programme is very high (around 90%) and from the graduate programme there are many opportunities for permanent roles within the teams. The organisation has many opportunities due to its shear size and diversity of roles available, and I would definitely consider joining the organisation in my future career if possible.

Interns were generally social and sometimes we went out for drinks on a Thursday or Friday. The good availability of pubs and restaurants also made this easier. There were also many interns near where I lived and so I could meet up with them during the weekend if desired. However, as expected, there were cliches formed and some people felt excluded.

Cost of living was very expensive in London, particularly rent and also drinks and food in bars and restaurants nearby. However, we were paid sufficiently and had an accommodation allowance, which enabled us to socialise without having to always consider financials. The subsidised canteen and starbucks within the building also helped to reduce costs of the internship.

There were not too many opportunities, although if we proactively sought for opportunities, these were available. For example, I took part in a citizenship charity project in which I helped to collect charity donations at a cloak room in a sample sale. It is all about being proactive and communicating to others that you wish to take part in these opportunities.