Risk and Controls partner Review

I enjoyed getting the chance to meet new people and learn about fields I didn't have a very good idea about. I enjoyed the charity challenge as it gave me a chance to meet and work together with interns for a good cause. I also enjoyed living and working in London.

At times I was given tasks in which I felt I was adding value but there were also plenty of tasks where the work was not very engaging. My colleagues tried to include me in conversations and I felt my opinion was valued. The more engaging and difficult the work was, the more valued I felt. I received good feedback throughout the internship.

Management and other colleagues were very supportive and always on hand to provide any help if I needed. If my manager was away, I knew he was available on OCS/email and if not, I knew who the next best person to contact was. This support eased me into the placement and made the earlier weeks better than they might have been if I didn't have such a supportive team.

At certain times the work would pile up and there would be a very busy few days whereas at other times, there were a few days in which I would have to do training courses etc. to fill in the time as there was not enough work to do. This was especially true in the first half of the placement but in the second half, the balance improved as I got to know more people around the office.

I was given quite a lot of responsibility over some of the tasks I was doing as I felt my opinion was valued on those. I was also given quite a lot of freedom to carry out these tasks and I enjoyed the independence. I was not made to simply get coffees and carry out printing which I feared I might have to.

The internship has taught me about work sectors I had never heard of and therefore it has opened up the options for me in the future, getting a chance to observe the different sectors from close range allowed me to get a better understanding of what I enjoy and what I don't enjoy. I already had many of the technical skills I needed to carry out my tasks however I have learned a lot about emotional intelligence and working with people in an office environment.

I worked in the risk management team which is infamous for being fairly dull. The work is not very exciting for the most part and this can bleed into the general office atmosphere. My office was very formal and much more traditional than some of the other offices and teams I got to witness.

My internship was meant to be split into 2 halves, one half with the risk management team and one half with the controls testing team, however I had to remain in controls testing for the entire internship due to the inability of the controls testing team to provide a suitable supervisor. That said, my time is risk management was fairly well organised and I had weekly meetings etc.

I felt the company have invested a lot in me by giving me a high level of freedom in my internship, I could learn about areas of the firm which I wanted to learn about rather than used as a resource to carry out the work other people did not want to do. It has given me a stronger idea of what I would like to do in the future.

I have learned a lot about other sectors and although I feel my I was not best suited to the line of work I was given, there are certainly teams such as the digital teams where I feel I would be better suited and would definitely consider as a future career prospect.

The social scene in my office was not great, everyone got along but there was rarely anything more than this. There was a decent social scene amongst interns, especially in our flats and charity challenge teams however this could have been improved massively if we had a group wide induction event to give us a chance to meet as many interns as possible.

The cost of living was fairly high due to the location being central London, the accommodation being free made this a lot easier to handle, events and activities around the area are expensive but they were often worth the price, food and travel were the greatest expenses.

The nightlife in the area I lived was not great but due to it being London, travelling to areas with a better nightlife was much easier than it might have been if I had been based in one of the other cities.

The work/life balance for my office was quite good and I found I had plenty of time for activities outside of work, this included things such as going to the gym, taking part in sport, and visiting galleries and museums.i