Intern Review

I've really enjoyed working with the LC team in Manchester. I've gained valuable insight into relationship management within the commercial bank, as well as the fundamentals of financial analysis and non-financial analysis. I networked well with others and enjoyed learning more about other areas of the commercial bank. My team and I had a very good relationship and I felt welcomed and enthused.

I felt very valued as an intern. Relationship directors in the LC team took a personal interest in my development and helped me with my target setting and ensured I had a tangible plan in place for the 8 weeks. In addition, my wellbeing was well looked after and my team were very sympathetic when I had adverse personal circumstances.

My manager was really good at providing me with sufficient work and also guiding me through it. He asked my questions about what I had done and always encouraged me to ask him questions about anything I didn't understand. I was also regularly taken out to client meetings and advised on how best to conduct myself at these. There was always someone to talk to for help and guidance.

I believe that the general corporate atmosphere has helped me to engage better with new people, especially those in much senior positions both in terms of age and corporate status. Coming from a scientific background, being thrown into a brand new area of work has strongly improved my adaptability and made me ready to take on new challenges at ease.

The placement itself was a lot less structured than the overall scheme. However, this is because I was simply joining a team that was already in action so this is to be expected really. I helped out where possible and my manager assigned me work where appropriate, so it was taken very much day-by-day, but still a rewarding experience.

The atmosphere was very welcoming and relaxed. The team I worked with was full of great people of all ages and I feel like I got on with everyone really well. However, there was still a very professional atmosphere so work was always the priority. It was a good balance of social and professional behaviour. Support was always readily available.

The company heavily invested in my personal training by means of the development days, CSR days and the global induction day. I found all of these experiences valuable and enjoyed each one. I found I was able to use the skills I learnt on them on my placement so the investment was worthwhile.

In terms of observation, I feel like I know what to expect when it comes to working in a full time role within LC on a surface level. Obviously, getting to grips with everything takes years so that would come in time.

I've really got to grips with HSBC company culture from the many intern days held in Birmingham. The culture seems very supportive and positive. Also, the intern team made me feel very supportive in times of personal difficulty. HSBC in general seems like they really care about their staff and make sure they show it.

The content of the course has helped me consider financial services in more depth and taught me more about them, as coming from a non financial background I needed to know more. I'm pretty certain about working in this sector now as it is exciting, with good career development opportunities.

Yes through client meetings. I went on plenty of meetings and learnt a lot about large corporate companies.

I didn't find there were that many as there were only 3 interns in my placement. It was difficult to connect with others, however I still managed to go to one or two socials when development days were running.

A little about extra curricular things such as ERGs.

Yes, I've had a really fulfilling 8 weeks.