Spring Intern Review

Very positive experience! The programme is very well organised, with regular sessions so that we find out more about other teams and divisions. Also many opportunities to network with other interns. Everyone in the office is keen to grab a coffee and tell you more about their job and experiences at Nomura.

I felt that my team was friendly and accepting. Everyone was willing to chat with me, show me what they were doing and were interested in how I was finding the spring week. At times, as an intern, you feel like a nuisance because everyone is busy with their jobs, but this is to be expected. I tried to use my judgement to decide when it was appropriate to approach people.

Everyone is so willing to provide their insight into banking, internships, networking and more. I felt that the people I talked to had my best interests in mind - they didn't just constantly sell Nomura. Instead, they were genuinely interested in whether I was enjoying my experience and providing advice for a future career in banking.

The skills that I developed over the internship were probably soft-skills rather than technical skills. What I learned will probably not assist with my economic degree, but will undoubtedly benefit a future career in banking (and a range of other potential careers, in fact). Networking, attention to detail and teamwork were among these skills.

HR structured the insight very, very well. Sessions were professional, well organised and ran on time. Bringing in DebateMate was also a great addition to the programme, and I believe that I learned valuable communication skills from this session. In addition, sessions throughout the two weeks allowed me to continue to network and create friendships with other interns.

There was never a dull moment with this insight programme. While I occasionally had time at my desk without much work to do, I found this time very beneficial as I could use it to meet lots of people from both my own and other teams. I quickly learned after my first day that being busy was the best way to make the most of this experience.

I believe that HR through the insight programme were constantly making an effort to introduce us to senior employees at Nomura and challenged us with programmes such as DebateMate. I did not expect Nomura to make such an effort in supporting interns who would only be here for two weeks, and so it was a lovely surprise to see the training and development that was provided.

While there is always more to learn about a firm, I believe that these two weeks gave me a great insight into Nomura. I met with people from all sorts of teams and backgrounds, and I gained a sense of the structure and culture at Nomura. However, I would have perhaps liked a day to shadow an analyst from another team to see more of the practical side of other facets of Nomura.

Nomura has a lovely company culture, and it was fantastic to see how positive and upbeat my team was when working both together and individually. Of course, working at a company is different to interning, but I got the sense that Nomura is great at nurturing young talent and rewarding those who prove themselves.

When starting the internship, I was unsure if banking was the right career for me. Now, I have seen that banking is the exact kind of career that I would like - using my degree to develop technical skills while also connecting with people through teamwork and client service.

I stayed with a friend so did not need to use the money I earned to pay for accommodation. However, when I was looking for places to stay, the pay I earned was not sufficient to cover even just rent. I was lucky that I could stay with friends, otherwise this internship would have actually cost me a significant amount of money.

Everyone was very keen to network and provide insight into their experiences at Nomura. I reached out to at least 15 people via email or in person to meet for a chat and every single one was happy to meet up. For me, on this internship I wanted to meet many people and decide if banking was for me, and the Nomura spring week was very well suited to this aim.

HR organised networking lunches, drinks and sessions to meet senior employees, other interns and our buddies. These were invaluable as they provided the opportunity to really connect with Nomura employees you would not have contacted otherwise. For example, I thoroughly enjoyed lunch with an ED from M&A, and we met again later in the internship to catch up.

Yes, especially from people in my team. I heard a lot about the events the team does each year. Apparently there is a ski trip, minigolf, a Christmas party and other events.

Definitely! If you are unsure if banking is for you, then this insight provides you with enough time and flexibility in a large investment bank to decide if you would like this kind of career, and which team you would like to be in. If you are set on banking, it's a great way to kick-start your career by networking with Nomura bankers and gaining technical skills on the desk.