Finance and business management summer analyst Review

I enjoyed my placement very much. I learnt a lot about the different aspects of finance and the true feeling of what an investment banking culture is like. My theoretical knowledge of finance improved greatly alongside my soft skills such as presentation skills due to the different tasks and projects i was set. The fact that i was given a lot of responsibility and could learn and improve from my mistakes made me enjoy the placement even more! However, at times I did want to move around and experience the different teams within finance to get a better feel of what i would enjoy more.

I loved my team. Not only did they help me learn more about the firm and culture, every time I had a problem they were more than happy to help. My manager especially took time out of his work to help me learn more about the theoretical side of finance. We were a close team and it helped that networking events within our team and the seniors who are in charge of our team were arranged after work. I feel like my good experience wouldn't have been the same if it wasn't for the team i was placed in.

Throughout HR helped us with the training and arranged presentations so that we could learn about the different areas of finance. They were very useful when we had any issues and questions by organising drop in sessions every friday for any interns who had queries. My manager also gave me a lot of support and guidance. One of my tasks was conducting daily pnls. The first few days my manager taught me step by step to complete this task and slowly I was able to do this without any supervisor. However, if i had a problem he was always happy to help. I think more support could have been given with regards to shadowing other departments. As the graduate programme is rotational, as an intern i wanted to see what i enjoyed best. I wasn't given any supervision when it came to asking to shadow other teams to learn more about them, especially which teams and who to ask.

I was quite busy on a daily basis. My day was very structured with completing pnl in the morning, helping with analysis in the afternoon and completing a report in the late afternoon. With these daily tasks set i also had to prepare for a presentation in front of my team which was due at the end of my 10 weeks and attend the presentations organised by HR. Therefore, i was always doing something. Even if i had a bit of spare time, i would organise catch up sessions to meet current graduates in other teams to get to know more about their experience. However, my day became quite repetitive and once i improved at the pnl and reports, it became a lot faster. I gradually had more time, but never felt bored as i could individually work on my presentation.

I was given a lot of responsibility. This was quite stressful at first but slowly over time i became more confident in my abilities and stopped asking if my work was correct. I was able to carry out the pnl and reports and send it to senior employees within the firm without any supervision. This was good as it made me learn what working for the firm as a graduate would be like. However, for the first 1-3 weeks it was very stressful.

I come from a science background, so only the soft skills such as presentation and communication skills and excel training will assist me in my degree. Therefore, the majority of what i learnt about finance will not help me with my studies. However, the basics of finance that i learnt will help me as a graduate when returning to the firm. I believe that the theoretical skills learnt are very team specific and therefore what i learnt in my team (product control) may not help in other teams such as business management.

Everyone was really friendly. We had lots of socials within the team and with other interns which made our office atmosphere less stressful and more fun. It was also very easy to ask for help or to ask to shadow other teams as everyone was willing to help. Defiantly a nice environment!

The placement was organised. HR sent weekly emails to the interns to update us on upcoming presentations and networking events available to us. We were given a timetable for the 10 weeks on our first day which showed us what we would be doing. This included our training week events. We also met our managers on the first day and got to know more about our team. HR also had weekly drop in sessions to help with any problems, making the internship very organised.

Very much. We had a week of training to develop our excel skills and learn more about the firm and working environment. My manager also helped and taught me more about finance in general. The weekly presentations organised by HR were also useful for developing our understanding of the breadth of finance. However, i may have been lucky with my team as they took extra time to teach and invest in me.

Very appealing! I look forward to the graduate programme especially since its a 3 year rotational programme. The firm also offers the CIMA qualification which is very flexible around the work schedules. The fact that the teams are so varied appeals to me more so that i can choose and find out what i really enjoy through research and experience.

Yes. Drinks were organised with other interns and my team.

expensive!

Good but expensive!

Yes. There was corporate responsibility day which compromised of us painting benches. This was a nice way to meet other interns and make friends. There were also sports clubs such as football, however i don't think this was very well advertised. There was other charity opportunities too but again, i didn't know too much about this.