Corporate Banking Intern Review

The internship was a fantastic insight into how a corporate bank operates. I was allowed to seek my own opportunities and encouraged to engage with as many different individuals as possible. I managed to gain exposure into most of the different business area's. The highlight of my internship was meeting clients and working on challenging cases.

All my colleagues were extremely welcoming and offered up their own time to talk to me about their role and allowed me to shadow them. I was given meaningful tasks by a wide range of business area's which helped them complete their work. It was nice to be treated as an equal.

My line manager was great. From day one I was supported and encouraged to explore as many opportunities as I could. I felt like I could ask anything and was provided with the tools to learn. I also engaged with senior management who were also supportive.

I was never bored. Some days were naturally busier than others depending on what tasks needs to be done at that point in time or how many new case files came in. The workload was challenging but manageable. You were given as much as you were capable of doing.

My initial expectations is that I would be given a lot of the low value tasks as I was an intern. However, after finishing my initial training I was given meaningful tasks. By week 5/6 I was trusted to work almost completely autonomously. In fact, I worked extensively on tasks for my line managers largest client.

The working world is completely different to university. Although societies, sports teams and academia provide some insight - It was a lot different to a professional environment. The skills that I learned while on this internship will stand me in good stead going forward in my career.

The atmosphere of my office was very work focused. Of course everyone had a laugh etc. but this is a professional environment with challenging targets being set. Everyone was supportive of each others goals and their was a lot of communication between team members.

My experience was a very fluid one. I did not have a strict schedule - I gained experience in area's which I liked or thought I would be interested in and helped where I was needed. Each week I set myself targets and then I worked with my manager to perform tasks which would help me meet them.

At the start of the internship all the interns went to one of Santander's larger offices for an induction day. Also, we were provided with a learning portal with a huge library of training to help develop us. I was also given opportunities to visit different offices and gain experience.

After my experience as an intern I think that working within the organisation at a later date is certainly appealing. Every staff member I spoke to praised the organisation as a whole and said they were fairly compensated/rewarded for their work and supported well.

I was the only intern in the office which meant there was less of a social scene due to my colleagues family commitments. However I still went for some drinks/coffee/food with quite a few colleagues.

I managed to get placed in an office very near my home and so did not need to pay living costs.

The nightlife was fantastic as Newcastle is renowned as a student city.