Intern Review

I learnt so much from this internship, about myself and my skillset, but also about the world of investment banking and financial services. It was a good length and really allowed me to understand if this would be the right role and company for me. I definitely appreciated the experience.

As an intern, not necesssarily at Nomura but in this kind of industry, you are somewhat limited as to what you can do as you may require extensive product knowledge and training, and this can take a lot of time to learn. Nonetheless, the team gave me real responsibility and made me feel like part of the team.

My manager and I had weekly meetings so I was always aware of how I was doing and knew how to improve. Going forward, I will really appreciate this insight as I can leverage this to my benefit in the future. I really feel like I have learnt about myself and my skill set, and how I can succeed in the future.

I never had to work longer than regular hours and rarely had to have lunch at my desk, which I was grateful for. I know that if I was here full time, I would have more responsibilities to manage so my day would be more full. As an intern, I think you need to pursue your own opportunities.

I was entrusted with as much as I possibly could have been on my desk, and earned valuable exposure to the intricacies of the products that my desk supports. My manager and I had established from the beginning the level of responsibility I could gain on my desk, and we found ways of building it with other experiences.

The most important thing I have learnt is about what it is I am good at, and what it is I need to work on. This is really going to help me in the future as I position myself in a job role that allows me to really make the most of my talents.

Ultimately, it is an investment bank and everyone is busy, so it was relatively quiet. One of the things I had to learn was how to conduct myself in this sort of environment. That said, the bank had regular socials and people were really friendly!! I can't stress that enough.

HR were great and we had events regularly, and there was a good level of structure to the feedback. This division was not rotational (though some are), and so I really valued the opportunity to make the most of the time on my desk. I liked that I had time to also go shadow other areas of the bank.

We had a lot of general compliance training and then it was down to my desk to train me on my responsibilities. My manager was great and my team were really engaged so I have no worries regarding that. I never felt that I wasn't valued or couldn't access training if I needed it.

There is a great on-site gym and the canteen and coffee shops are great. Every Thursday during the summer there is a drinks evening on the rooftop garden with subsidised drinks which is obviously really popular! I can not fault the facilities here at all, would definitely recommend to a friend!

Thursday Drinks is always really popular and there have been the odd social organised by HR. I made really great friends here but that was largely down to my own networking! But honestly all the interns were really friendly and I got along well with all of the, so social scene wasn't really an issue.

The simple fact is that it is the City of London and so everything is expensive. There is no way of avoiding it. Thursday drinks were relatively cheap however the area itself is expensive as everyone is paid well and it pushes up the prices. Cost of commuting should be accounted for if you don't live nearby.

Again, it is the city of London so everything is super expensive. Nearby is Shoreditch and so that is always good. It is good to have someone who lives in London to show you around but generally speaking London nightlife is good but expensive, nothing more to say. Be prepared.

The gym is really popular with Nomura employees and so that is always a good way of meeting people. A lot of people congregate at Thursday drinks and this too is a good way to get involved. My hours never really stopped me doing stuff and so that wasn't an issue.