Summer Intern Review

I really enjoyed the internship. I learnt about the products of the desk I rotated on but more importantly, through work shadowing sessions with a wide variety of desks, I was also able to figure out which role I was best suited to and would enjoy the most. HR also arranged numerous training/learning sessions which are very insightful as well as fun social events.

I felt valued by my colleagues. Everyone on your desk, despite being very busy, is willing to make time for you to explain concepts or provide help when you get stuck on your project. Senior leaders at the firm are also willing to take time out of their schedule to meet you individually.

The firm assigns you many mentors who you can reach out to for advice/guidance. I found these mentors to be very helpful throughout the programme. These mentors not only gave you advice with regards to doing well on the internship but also helped you reach out to people on other desks. I found the desk buddies that were allocated to me to be very helpful. Despite being busy themselves, they were happy to make time to answer questions with regards to my project or otherwise educate me on their role.

We were fairly busy with our projects on a daily basis but we still had time to network with people from other parts of the business as well as spending time work shadowing other desks. We also had time to attend many training sessions throughout the course of the internship.

The amount of responsibility given varies from desk to desk but overall, I think I was given a fair amount of responsibility. On one of my rotations, I had to independently manage a spread sheet containing key information used by the desk when talking to clients. The desk trusted me to have attention to detail so as to not make any mistakes.

I think the soft skills developed will be beneficial regardless of which career path I choose as well as in the remainder of my degree. The weekly learning sessions on working with different personality types in a team, efficient time management and mindfulness in particular will be helpful in my degree studies and beyond.

The general atmosphere was busy. However, despite that fact that people are constantly busy, my fellow interns and I found that they were willing to make time for you. They were happy to answer any questions relating to your intern project or to help educate you on their role as well as the products they deal with.

The overall internship was very well organised. We received training in the first week and we were also given talks from people on different desks of varying seniority about the different aspects of the division. Over the course of the internship, HR had also arranged numerous social events which were a great way to network with other interns but also with employees of the firm in a more informal manner.

In terms of personal training and development, I would say that the firm was very invested in us. Every week, we had learning sessions which covered topics such as working with different personality types in teams effectively, efficient time management, mindfulness amongst other topics. The talk on mindfulness was given by Headspace, a company which provides guided meditations. The firm bought a 1 year subscription of their app for all interns.

Future employment prospects within the organisation are good. The firm is very keen on internal mobility, and this is something they mentioned throughout the internship. If an opportunity arises within the firm in a different location or on a different (but related) desk, then it is possible to move over.