Summer Intern Review

I gained an incredible amount of exposure to the Corporate and Investment Banking division of the bank, rotating across Credit Sales, Rates Sales, Syndicate Loans, Corporate Coverage and Supply Chain Finance. I was then assigned an insightful three-week project with the Real Solutions Group for Fixed Income (RSG FI). I would thoroughly recommend this internship in terms of its working environment and culture, in addition to the workload expected (weekly individual/group presentations) and hours worked (average working hours for me were 7:30am to 7:00pm). It would have been great to have the opportunity to rotate across the M&A and Debt Advisory businesses, however both teams were open to arrange for shadowing. I preferred learning about the investment banking side of the business, so naturally I would have picked my rotations differently if given the choice.

Everyone was always open to answer any questions and the staff on my desk rotations were mostly engaging. Although it was more difficult approaching sales-related desk members due to the nature of their job with ongoing live trades, they still made time for me when they were free and were happy to explain fundamental concepts and the workings of their business. Unfortunately, there was a rift within our intern cohort and it was often frustrating to see people falling out with one another. Luckily, this has since been solved and we are now working together as part of an assigned charity project.

While our line manager was extremely kind and helpful to us in guiding interns and providing feedback, the frequency of the feedback was limited (only two feedback sessions throughout the entire ten weeks). It would be very helpful in future if these could be arranged on a bi-weekly basis so that we may build on any weaknesses sooner. This may be achieved in arranging for two or three support staff to provide these feedback sessions, instead of assigning all interns to one line manager.

This depended very much on the desk (ranging from four stars to nine stars across various desks). I chose the busiest desk as my three-week stay for the final project, as I found this most insightful and the most interesting. I have been constantly busy since, working on my final project and presentation while making time for desk work (swap pricing, sales and structuring).

I was given a fair amount of responsibility in preparing for group or individual projects on a weekly basis, often taking a leadership role in group tasks. I was also expected to arrange for networking and shadowing in my own time (which I did for M&A Debt Advisory, DCM, GTB FI, Cash Management, Corporate Coverage for TMT and Fixed income). It would have been great to have been given more responsibilities on the desk, however our limited capabilities as interns prevent us from being able to carry these out.

This internship has no doubt increased my knowledge and understanding of Corporate and Investment Banking to a great extent. I have been able to build on both core and technical skills, improving on my organisation and time management, public speaking and presentation skills, teamwork and leadership abilities, Excel and PowerPoint capabilities and finally my networking approach. The amount of contacts I have established throughout the internship has been incredible, I have been very lucky to meet so many different employees from a wide range of teams and sectors. I am now more aware of the exact career path I wish to follow and this internship has developed my abilities and confidence to pursue this.

General atmosphere was very open and welcoming, the culture and environment at Santander was one of their standout features to me. Everyone was extremely friendly and all most of the staff within the were helpful in introducing us to others and to work functions within Santander Corporate and Investment Banking.

The internship programme itself was well structured into an introductory week, then five weeks of desk rotations, followed by three weeks assigned to a desk working towards a final project, before finishing with a charity week. However, there was a significant standard deviation in the organisation f various desk rotations, with some going out of their way to accommodate and arrange for work and networking while others expected interns to act entirely independently on their own initiative.

Santander has definitely spent significant time and resources investing in me, providing me with an in-depth insight into the workings of the bank and on-the-desk training for several teams within the SCIB cohort. Their aim is to retain and develop graduate talent and I believe they are taking the right approach in doing so. I was provided with a work laptop and access to Bloomberg terminal, which were both extremely useful throughout my internship.

The Graduate Programme is very appealing, with four six-month rotations across different desks within the Corporate and Investment Banking division of Santander. I am particularly interested in the M&A division within the bank and would consider full-time work in this area at a later stage upon completing a Graduate Programme (if successful in being granted an offer).

I was close to two of the ten interns in our cohort and enjoyed the social scene in London with them, although there was not so much a good social scene at the bank itself. There was a tendency for workers to network in The Refinery bar opposite the office on Thursdays or Fridays, however there were limited networking events arranged exclusively as part of the internship. The graduates however were very accommodating and went out of their way to make us feel welcome and comfortable within the bank.

I could not afford to live within the work area due to extremely high accommodation costs and a lack of support in finding and funding this accommodation. As a result, I stayed in Camberwell throughout my internship which was an unpleasant experience (50 minute commute, my partner was harassed there on her way back from work and there were limited socialising opportunities within the area).

Having gone out with some fellow interns on a few occasions, I was very impressed by the sheer number of rooftop bars and great pubs within the area. London is one of the best places in the world when it comes to the nightlife, although this comes at a price.

No activities outside of work were offered by Santander, I signed up to PureGym in my local neighbourhood but was not involved in any organised activities. It would be great in future if Santander could organise some activities for interns outside of work, as I feel this would greatly benefit us in working better together as a team.