This review was submitted over 4 years ago, so some of the information it contains may no longer be relevant.
Rating
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The Role
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The Company
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The Culture
- 1. To what extent did you enjoy your work placement or internship?
- 2. To what extent did you feel valued by your colleagues?
- 3. To what extent were you given support and guidance by management/your supervisor(s)?
- 4. How busy were you on a daily basis?
- 5. How much responsibility were you given during your placement?
- 6. To what extent did/will the skills you developed, and training you received, assist you in your degree studies and beyond?
- 7. What was the general atmosphere in your office?
- 8. How well organised was the overall work placement or internship set up?
- 9. In terms of personal training and development, to what extent did the company or firm invest in you?
- 10. What were the perks on your work placement?
- 11. How appealing are future employment prospects within the organisation?
- 12. Was there a good social scene amongst any fellow placement students/colleagues?
- 13. What was the cost of living and socialising in the area you worked in?
- 14. What was the Nightlife like in the area you worked?
- 15. Were there many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work?
The Role
I'm currently 4months in and I would highly recommend everyone to apply to LCH Clearnet this autumn. When you're looking to apply it may not have the prestige of a Goldman or Barcap but at LCH Clearnet you have an opportunity to work in a Central Counterparty- which is the hottest topic in financial circles at the moment. At this company you have the opportunity to work with all the big banks as they are members (and currently owners) of the business.
I am very fortunate to be in an excellent team. They give me an opportunity to be an active part of sales meetings and the trust to assist clients directly as part of the sales process.
The sub teams are generally quite small (4 of us in Sales & Marketing in London). All of my team are on hand for support. In my experience, the people at LCH Clearnet take a real interest in your personal development and are happy to put you in touch with contacts in other organisations to spend a couple of weeks there once your 12month placement is over before I go back to uni if that's what you want to do.
Some days can be extremely busy and some can be relatively slow. Sales and Marketing can be quite hectic at times and so you can be given work with a few hours deadline when a client request or meeting comes up. Personally, I enjoy the pressure.
Again, I'm quite fortunate to be part of a sales team that has given me the opportunity to deal directly with clients. Naturally at first they have to work you out and assess what you can be trusted to do.
In the first 2weeks, most of my time was spent learing about Interest rate swaps. This is the biggest finance market out there (over $600trn) so experience here is invaluable. Central counter parties are the biggest issue in financial regulation at the moment so LCH Clearnet is a massive opportunity.
The Company
There is a very friendly atmosphere. All teams intreroperate and are at hand to help each other.
In my experience, the placement was well setup. You are given to your line manager who is entirely responsible for what you do. To that extent, it depends how well organised your team and manager is.
Product and Operations 'experts' spent time with me to get me up to speed on clearing and Interest rate swaps. You learn a lot on the job here as it is a very complicated product.
Subsidised/Company Gym
Financial Bonus
Company Parties/Events
Healthcare/Dental
LCH Clearnet are just opening a graduate scheme. The placement scheme gives you an opportunity to bypass it.
The Culture
6 placement strudents were taken on this year. We all get on and go out for a drink occassionally.
Central London- very expensive to live so I commuted from home.
Bars everywhere: Really good half price drinks deals in most places.
Sports and Social club with golf days, theatre trips etc
Details
Placement (10 Months+)
London
November 2011