Summer Analyst Review

It was a great opportunity to experience working in a large international bank with a full service offering. My previous internships were in small boutiques or regional banks. Working at HSBC allowed me to gain a deeper understanding of how interconnected the financial markets were. Furthermore, the amount of support available was high as HSBC is a large organization

I was valued highly as I was given a large amount of responsibility - akin to an analyst 1 / 2 which was surprising as I was just an intern. For example, I built the financial model which was used for a live project. Everyone was very friendly and we would joke around, talk about things beyond work and hit the gym together if we had time.

Clear instructions were always given and supervisors always made sure you understood the task before asking you to do it. If you had any questions / opinions, your supervisors were always open to you voicing them and they will either accept it and revise their documents or reject it and then explain why they rejected your opinions.

There was a lot of work to do on a daily basis and this is what people should want when they're looking to join an investment bank. This is important because it shows that the bank has deal flow and deal flow means more work which means you get to learn more

I met one of the clients by myself and personally talked to him. I was also in charge of making the financial model and the management presentation for a project which was quite surprising as usually Analyst 1 / 2s are in charge of such things. I was also the only junior on one deal (my senior being a Director) which shows the amount of trust the firm gives to interns

As I am committed to a career in the financial services, all the skills that I learnt at HSBC are highly applicable. For example, the financial modelling skills will be helpful whether I stay at HSBC or move to another bank. The attention to detail I developed will be helpful in any career I pursue

Atmosphere of the office was fairly positive, everyone was friendly and open to talking to you. One thing that I would like to flag is that it was relatively siloed in a sense that people won't approach each other unless they're working together. People who sit next to each other will not talk to each other unless on prompts the other so you need to be proactive

The overall internship was very well organised. HR organised weekly talks for us to learn about the different departments. We also had mid-internship social which was go-karting and it was very fun. In terms of appraisals, all of it was very organised with mid-term reviews, forms we had to fill in etc. Lots of feedback was offered which was a plus.

The company invested a lot as they organised weekly talks for us to learn about the different departments. They had Managing Directors / Directors come in to give a talk and given how senior they are, the time they invested in us was very valuable. We also had a lot of feedback, from mid-term reviews to final-term reviews.

As of me writing this review, I have not had my final review yet so I do not know whether I will have a future job with the firm. Nonetheless, my reviews to date were fairly positive so I am confident that had I maintained a high standard throughout the remaining portion of my internship, it is likely I will receive a return offer

The other interns would actively organise drinks on Friday evenings and everyone was invited. You would go if you were free but most of us weren't free (as we were in investment banking). I would personally just go to the gym after work and then grab dinner and eat at my desk

As HSBC is based in Canary Wharf, most of the prices for lunch and dinner were pretty high. E.g. Lunch was around c.£7 per meal whilst dinner could be around c.£10. Luckily for us, HSBC has its own canteen where lunch can be c.£5 and we have a dinner subsidy of c.£15 per meal at night. The canteen is not open at night

As it is Canary Wharf, there are a lot of restaurants and bars available for our patronage. However, as I was in investment banking, I did not have the opportunity to visit a lot of the bars. Nonetheless, I did try to use my dinner expenses to try out all the other restaurants on the market.

There were not a lot of activities outside of work as it is investment banking and we are expected to work long hours. I was allowed to go to the gym every evening with the explicit understanding that I complete whatever work I have and manage my own time. However, I understand that other teams have different policies and you should consult your buddy.