Summer Associate Review

I have really enjoyed my 10 weeks at the FCA - everyone I interacted with during this time was lovely and helpful. People outside of your division were always happy to take you on for shadowing, which was really useful in gaining an insight into the FCA as a whole.

I definitely felt valued by my colleagues - especially by my line manager. As I was based on two teams, my time was split so I wasn't able to become completely integrated into either team, even so I definitely felt valued and respected by colleagues in both teams. Everyone was really keen to help me settle in.

I felt very supported by my line manager - she ensured that I very quickly set my objectives so that I knew exactly what I was working on over the 10 week period. Despite only joining the organisation the same week the internship started, she very quickly set up projects for me to work on. She was also always happy to have regular catch ups which was really useful, especially at the start of the internship.

This really varied throughout the internship. The first couple of weeks felt very slow due to not having a laptop and much to do. Weeks 3-6 were better, I had stuff to do. Week 7-10 have been very busy - I guess as projects need to be tied up and handed over.

I was given completely responsibility for my own projects on one of my workstreams. For the other, I was responsible for working alongside a business change lead, where I was responsible for contributing to key documents to be used in the delivery of a project. It was a good level of responsibility for an intern - challenging but not overwhelming.

Some of my work was desk-based research - for this I was able to use my existing skills from my degree and develop them further. Other work involved synthesis of large volumes of information, attending meetings and taking minutes - skills such as analysis and communication will be ones I can take forward to my degree studies and beyond.

Our internship began during the staggered move from Canary to Stratford. The atmosphere in the Canary office was fine but quiet as teams were leaving for Stratford. The atmosphere in Stratford is great - most people seem to love the new building, which I think is a lovely place to work in. Lots of great areas to work around the building.

Overall the placement was organised well - the Talent Team organised a CSR day for the interns which was really fun, they also organised a coffee catch up with the Chairman of the FCA which was a great chance to meet him and ask questions. The induction felt a little too long (2.5 days) - perhaps the corporate induction on the first day could be shortened slightly? It was useful but just a bit slow.

During the induction we took part in a half day session provided by Kaplan - this was really useful in identifying areas for personal development and really getting to know your style of work and thinking. Lots of e-learning was available on the hub - I had the chance to complete lots of interesting modules to increase my knowledge of financial markets.

The grad scheme looks really great - having spoken to lots of grads during the internship, they all seem to enjoy what they do and love the teams they work in. The rotations, internal and external secondments look really exciting - I would definitely consider the grad scheme if I was to be offered the role.

Not so much with colleagues - although they did organise team socials to mark project progress and deadlines etc. Amongst the interns, it was a little harder to organise stuff as we were based over two locations. Even so, some of the interns were up for drinks a few times a week and we did also do a few more organised socials.

Drinks were slightly more expensive in Canary, but cheaper in Stratford. FCA employees get Westfield retailer discount and so this was really helpful in getting discounts on food and drink. Cost of living will be cheaper in Stratford but most interns did have long commutes and although they mentioned it was tiring, it was manageable.

Not really sure about the nightlife in Stratford. The atmosphere in Canary was usually quite good as the whole area is busy with after work drinks. Stratford is on the central line so its easy to get into central London for any nights out etc. But yes this wasn't really something I explored.

Not that many during the internship - although there was a networking event hosted by the UK Regulators network that one of the grads invited the interns to. I went to this and it was a good event that allowed me to meet people on grad schemes of other regulators and discuss what we thought the challenges to regulation would be in the future