Summer Analyst Review

I enjoyed most of my internship. The atmosphere was very friendly with most of the people around me being very supportive. I do feel that HR could have done some organisation a bit better; stuff like on training days arranging for groups to go for staggered lunches as it got crowded. Also I feel that there should have been better organisation with the salary payment. We did not receive anything at the beginning or before, even though other internships do offer housing assistance or salaries at the start. This meant that we were only paid anything halfway through, at which point we would have already had to pay a lot of rent. On top of this, there were issues with the tax codes given.

I did feel quite valued, especially considering I was an intern. As time went by I was given more responsibility with tasks and was able to engage with the team more. I think some activities did not make me feel valued - particularly the trade team activity. This was not helpful and the comments / feedback / style of the game was about being a hedge fund - this was explored in great detail. My internship was in Sales and Trading and nobody on any of the floors works as a hedge fund. This was not something I felt value in doing at all.

I was given a lot of support and guidance by managers, generally most of them were able to take time out of their day to explain ideas to me, and they would provide feedback on my presentations and work. This was something that was done really well and the level of feedback received was really good.

I was quite busy, I would have several tasks assigned at once, some short term some long term, which gave me stuff to do during the day. I was also expected to shadow so I was learning a lot and doing work too. I think that some activities assigned like the trading game were unnecessary and ended up with a lot of time spent away with desk, as a lot of team meetings were required.

There was not a lot of responsibility, however legally I was not allowed to speak to clients so this was expected. I was given tasks that they would normally have done themselves, and over time they relied on my work without double checking it which was a good level of responsibility. I also gave some presentations which would have been their main source of information which was also nice.

Some of the learning I completed does help my degree studies as I study economics and I understood more about bonds and their pricing. I think that becoming familiar with the trading floor and programs like Bloomberg was definitely a good development and will help with future careers. Also understanding how to do well in sales was also helpful.

Generally was very friendly, everybody was very driven and committed. The environment definitely fostered networking and meeting new people, there were always chats and people stopping by which was nice. There was also a strong working environment and the hours were not pressured to be too long. Everybody was welcoming and able to settle in okay.

This was very mixed. I feel that HR could have been a bit better at arranging training week, in particular the lunches when we had external events, as having a staggered time for lunch would have worked better. I also think they should have done a better job with the salaries, as we were paid quite late and as such made it quite stressful for us.

We had a few days of training which was useful, and on desk there was some training and new learning as well. However, there was not a lot of investment in ourselves but I don't think it was a bad thing necessarily, as we are only interns. However, in terms of personal development there was an improvement as I was encouraged to network and meet new people.

Yes they are very appealing, in general the grad scheme is quite good and it would be great to make it onto the scheme. There is also a lot of growth prospects in the company and the opportunity to work abroad and in other divisions is also a great thing.

It was very varied, some of the interns were not very fun but some were. At the start there were some HR events that we would all network but I think there could have been more organised to help encourage more fun activities. But generally the group was mixed, some were fun some weren't.

It was very expensive, as I had to move for the internship and pay rent, and also transport costs. Also I think a big cost was eating out, as the work day was so long you end up eating out, and this added a lot of expenses. Also the work canteen is not subsidised at all.

It was not great in the immediate area as it was canary wharf, however it was in London so there were other areas to go to. I think a key issue was the group of people you are with, so many are quite tired so nights out did not happen often.

No not really, generally there was one community day which was organised, but I feel like there could have been more networking events available. In the beginning they did a good job of organising quite a few, however later there were not as many and I think this was not as good.