Market Risk Intern Review

I enjoyed the 10 week internship with Santander. At the end of it, I would have wished it would last more, as there was still a lot to learn. I was constantly doing something, whether it was daily tasks, networking or trainings, as Santander invested a lot in our training.

My colleagues treated me as one of the team from the beginning. My work received feedback from my team constantly, and whenever I needed help, I could receive it from either my colleagues or from other employees as well. There were several times when I received help from other team members.

My supervisor constantly gave me advice and support. My manager also offered me guidance for my future career, not only as part of his team, and he gave me great tips for my last year of university and for my career. Also, I could count on my manager if I needed help with anything, work-related or not.

I did not receive either too much or too little work. The tasks I had to do on a daily basis allowed me to network and have independent activities as well. However, when I was assigned a task, my manager made sure it was not administrative or time-consuming. I received tasks that developed useful skills, like VBA coding.

I received some very important analysis to make, on which the whole department was dependent on.

The internship offered me a clear path for the future, including in my remaining year of university and my career. At the end, I left with a strong idea about my future plans, which I build with the help of my manager and other employees. In my last year of university, I know what to focus on.

The atmosphere in the office of Santander, in Triton Square, was very friendly. The company is focused on teamwork, as it is also part of its' culture. This makes networking and building relationships with colleagues very easy. Besides the professional contacts that I made, I could say that I made friends as well.

The company invested in me since I started. From the first day, I received constant training on things related to my team and to other finance subjects. As the internship was learning focused, I could say I learned more about banking and finance in Santander than in one year of university.

Future employment with Santander is very appealing, I like the company and I wish to build a career with them. Also, all interns are considered for the graduate scheme, at the end of their internship and, as I understand, most interns continue on the graduate scheme, which means Santander values its' interns.

Most of the interns went for lunch with either their manager, colleagues or the intern group. We had constant company and self organised events, which helped us build relationships. Also, our managers and colleagues had many social events, for which we were always invited as well. Every Friday, there would be a social event with our colleagues.

The cost of living in London, as you probably know, is very high. Rent and food is expensive, which means that you could find rent far from the office, and pay transport to reach it. However, Santander has a subsidised canteen in the Triton Square office, which makes food costs a bit more affordable.

As soon as we joined the company as interns, we received a charity project, in which we had to fundraise for two charities. The project specified between two and three hours of involvement per week, and the team that fundraised the most would receive a prize. This was an amazing opportunity, as we developed our sales skills.