Summer Intern Review

The internship provided me with a very good insight into working in an office environment, working in financial services and in internal audit. The work side of the internship was very valuable however, the social side wasn't very organised/present. Everyone I met was willing to help and provided insights into their careers.

I was part of a small team and so was given a lot of responsibility and not treated as an intern. My colleagues were always on hand to provide support and fully explained tasks that were new to me. I was given the opportunity to see the full audit and take part in every aspect of it.

My manager was always on hand to provide support and answer any questions I had. My manager made sure I had enough work to do and helped me seek out more opportunities for work when my days were quiet. He also provided me support and advice on future career options.

How busy I was was dependent on the stage of the audit and on what I was able to do - for example some tasks I couldn't help out on because I didn't have access to the software or systems. Some days I didn't have much to do but the majority of the internship I was busy.

I was given a lot of responsibility as I was in a small team. I was given work that any other team member would do and my work was used for the final versions. I was given the opportunity to talk to stakeholders. The fact that I was an intern didn't hinder the value I could add to the team.

I have finished university now and I plan to go into a career in internal audit so the skills I've learnt from this internship will have a direct effect on my next steps. The internship gave me a great insight into what a role in internal audit will look like and prepared me for working in an office environment.

The atmosphere was more relaxed than I expected. Team members are able to work from home when they need to/or once a week and leave early if they need but they still stay late most days to make sure they finish their tasks. I got a non hierarchial feeling from the office which was nice.

It was well organised in terms of learning sessions however, there were not many social activities organised and sessions that involved all the interns. There were some times where I felt more guidance could have been given to the session leader to ensure we got the most out of the session.

We were given mandatory training courses to do which covered function specific areas as well as soft skills. You could also do more training courses if you had time to or you had other skills you wanted to learn. I also received feedback on my soft skills from team members.

Future employment prospects are promising but I'm not sold on the graduate scheme due to the restrictions on the qualification you can do. Graduate schemes in other functions may be different but I feel in this function it could be more challenging to ensure you have a steep learning curve and get the most out of it.

It was hard to socialise with the other interns outside of your function especially since there were no events organised that included all of the interns. All the interns were together on the very first day, and the very last day however, since there was no interaction in-between there was not much point.

It's Canary wharf so everything is going to be more expensive than elsewhere but the salary means you can afford to pay the prices. There is a wetherspoons nearby which helps with bringing the cost of socialising down by a lot. You can easily go outside of Canary wharf for cheaper activities too.

In terms of nightlife there's not a lot in Canary wharf so you would have to travel outside of this area. Transport is good so that's not an issue. After the long days and weeks though, most the interns didn't stick around long enough after work to need nightlife activities.

I'd say there was although I didn't do them myself. An example would be abseiling down the O2 for charity, getting involved in citizenship activities, branch days which take place on a work day. In my particular team I didn't come across many opportunities for activities outside of work but I didn't mind that.