Intern Review

I enjoyed meeting people, the general atmosphere of the work place and the people I sat around. I found the actual work I was asked to do incredibly difficult and the level of support left a lot to be desired. By the end I felt like I was coping okay but for the majority of the time I felt completely out of my depth and that was upsetting to me.

Whenever someone asked me to carry out a task additional to my project I jumped at the chance for a change of scene. Thus I believe my colleagues commended me for my "can-do" attitude. By the end of my time I was finally receiving praise for the project work I'd carried out and was often validated on the difficulty of what I had been asked to do. I eventually felt like I had added value, but for most of the time, I couldn't understand the wider context and value of the project work.

My manager "threw me in the deep end to see how I'd cope" but even when I was not coping he really couldn't see that I was having a hard time, or why. Even now he has no idea the struggle I went through in attempting to do the work he'd asked of me. It wasn't that I didn't ask for help - I did, he just didn't listen to me well enough to understand what I was trying to tell him. The mentor I was assigned was worse in a lot of ways. He told me not to come to him with "trivial" matters - who else was I supposed to ask? He was supposed to be my mentor... He talked down to me a lot, told my manager I didn't ask good questions, etc. but no effort to get me to the level he expected. While there is an element in an internship or self learning, sometimes an intern comes in with so little relevant experience that they absolutely need support. Very disappointing.

Towards the start not very busy - I was waiting around a lot for people who could help me. By the end I was working all hours I was in for. When I didn't have "work" to do I could use online learning resources to fill my time, and I met with people.

A fairly medium level - carried out a daily reporting action, the metrics from which were used by the business. I aided in testing a platform to be used by people in the business. My first project produced findings presented to a regulator, so it was pretty useful. My second project initially felt pointless but by the end I had come to understand that it was important for opening up conversations around practises in the business.

Learnt a new programming language in under 2 months - looks impressive on a CV, useful for my final year project in uni which is programming based, and has definitely forced me into an intense experience I probably would not have otherwise had. Developed my people and presentation skills, which are always useful!

Constantly busy. (Most) people are really nice and have an amazing willingness to help where they can. Especially enjoyed the people I was sat with, very friendly, entertaining and supportive where they could be. However, did feel incredibly male-dominated and masculine - even the women there. Maybe the nature of banking is to be aggressive? Sometimes felt like I wasn't totally taken seriously or respected - don't know if that's because I'm an intern/woman/short.

Internship in general was very well put together - great events, networking, speakers, etc. The project within the internship felt disorganised. Didn't feel like my manager really knew what he wanted initially, or at least he couldn't very well explain it to me. He really should have indicated what was expected from me much earlier.

General intern learning events were good. In terms of my project they invested basically nothing. I was just expected to learn a new programming language (which by the way has very little in the way of training or tutorials publically available). Additionally I didn't come into the bank with a finance background at all, but I was still expected to know things that I honestly had no way of knowing without someone telling me.

If I had the same levels of support (i.e. very low) then I would not be happy to work here. The people in the division I was in, however, were people I would happily work around or with again.

Yes. Made friends with other interns so we had social gatherings (met for lunch, went for dinner, etc.) amongst ourselves, in addition to events organised by the company. Such networking events additionally provided opportunities to meet with interns out side of the group of friends we had made. Also enabled us to attend some great cultural events.

I lived for free with family. Cost of travel is just standard London fares.

Good restaurants and bars but I never went out as such in the night... London is London though so I imagine it's pretty good.

Yes. There were social clubs, sports clubs, etc. I personally got involved with arts and culture events. Being an employee of the company also allowed me free access to certain museums, galleries and exhibitions which I definitely took advantage of - even going with some of the other interns. That is a real perk of working here.