Insight Week Intern Review

It was very useful to be able to really see what day-to-day life is like inside the company. It was also a good networking opportunity both with RBS employees and with other people on the insight week. Overall I found it very useful and would recommend it to other people.

Despite us not being employees or working on any particular RBS projects during the insight week, I was still made to feel valued such as often being asked my thoughts and opinions about things we were being shown. It is clear that RBS is a company that really cares about its employees and everyone I spoke to was very positive about the company.

There was plenty of guidance and support. On the first day we were given many contact numbers in case we were lost or didn't know where to be. There was also plenty of opportunity to talk amongst our peers and share our experiences of the insight week with each other.

It was good to be able to see some of the potential practical applications of a maths degree. I was also able to develop better communication skills both through talking to RBS employees throughout the week and also through talking to the other people who were taking part in the insight week.

We were given a full timetable on the first day which meant we always knew where we were meant to be. They also ensured we spent time in a variety of departments within our chosen areas and that as well as shadowing we also had time for personal development on the first day through talks.

The atmosphere was generally relaxed and comfortable. The ice breaker activities on the first day meant that everyone felt a bit more familiar with each other which immediately made it very comfortable. All of the members of staff I interacted with seemed to want to make us feel at ease.

We spent the entire first day being given talks which contributed to our personal development. We learnt how to give a 60 second pitch about ourselves to summarise our personal skills and attributes. There was also an opportunity to work in teams and discuss how we could get the best out of the insight week.

It gave us the opportunity to see examples of what the people we were shadowing were working on, which I found really helpful and interesting. We also had plenty of opportunity to see the office space that the employees worked in and gauge the atmosphere of the everyday working life.

Nearly everyone I asked was very enthusiastic about the company. They seem to highly value the wellbeing of their employees and that was passed on to us. For example, their working hours seem to be very flexible and can be tailored to suit each employee based on what they find most convenient.

The content was very useful in helping me decide on my future career path as we were able to see many aspects of working at RBS. We were also given a lot of information about the summer internship and the graduate scheme which was very valuable in deciding what I might do next.

I was reimbursed for expenses but there were limits on everything and it sometimes felt like we had not really been given enough and couldn't really get very much fot the money we were allowed. It was also quite confusing as some people were told breakfast in their hotels was included and some were not.

Yes, there were lots of opportunities for this. We were introduced to a lot of the employees via outr allocated shadowing time. Most of the people I spoke to were also quite obliging about adding me on LinkedIn in order to grow my network. We also attended an internal career development day which allowed us to meet people from all over various areas of the bank.