Quant/Strat summer analyst Review

The work was very enjoyable and challenging. I really liked working on both problems from eFx and equities execution. However, I felt that since the problems were bigger than they seemed, it took a while to get used to the jargon and the technical details. Hence, the program might benefit adding two weeks just like in the trading internship program for people to have more time. Also, some pre-learning courses could be offered before the internship even begins to aid this purpose.

I felt very at-home at RBC. Everyone was very kind and helpful. It felt like the work I was doing actually mattered and made a difference (especially in eFX).

I was given support when required and when I asked for it.

Very. But such was the nature of the job and I liked it.

I was working on a standalone problem on my own that was going to impact how the business was run. Some of the results informed my supervisors and the team about the area of the business that I worked on.

I learnt how to do research fast and without flab. I worked with real data that was dirty and messy so I know ways of how to treat it to extract useful information. That is a very useful skill to have.

It was always bustling and full of life. The trading floor was a place of action. There was so much going around every minute and things moved very fast. Everybody seemed to be on top of it all and it was very impressive just watching people do their seemingly every-day work.

It was quite well organized. There was a lot of thought put into the program by [This section of the comment has been removed by a member of the RateMyPlacement Team because it did not meet our site terms and conditions] and the rest of the team. The charity event was very inspiring and uplifting to take part in and the final breakfast was nice. I enjoyed meeting interns from other streams and programs.

I was given access to a Bloomberg terminal even though I didn't require it much. It was useful during some points of my internship and made me learn it which is a useful skill to have in markets. There were some lunch-time learning sessions and a trading game but I think the program could benefit by having more quant-oriented lecture series preferably concentrated in the first two weeks that goes over some of the useful stuff/tools that we used during the program.

At least half of the intern class is expected to get offers. However, there is not a limit on the number of people that are hired. It is all results/performance based. So I would say the odds are very good. Internships of this nature in the industry are kind of hard to get and it seems that RBC is a good place to get it for conversion.

Yes, we had our group chats and regular weekly social meet-ups on Fridays and also if possible during lunch time. People got closer together and I made some good friendships as the internship progressed. I will miss seeing my colleagues' faces now that the internship has finished and we have all gone home.

The cost of living and socialising was not super cheap compared so some areas in London however it was also not ridiculously expensive. There were a lot of good restaurants and bars around bank and a lot of tourist flow. I think that might be the reason why the prices were slightly higher but I think the trade-off with quality needs to also be factored in.

Bank lights up during friday nights and I saw a ton of people (a lot not working in these areas) flocking to bars, gathering places and clubs. It was very lively and vibrant to go to these areas and meet all sorts of people (mostly bankers but those are the kind that I like meeting the most).

Yes, we had a treasure hunt, a charity ideation event, drinks and restaurant gatherings. I think that there were plenty of opportunities to do stuff outside of work. But there weren't many chances to get to know the people that you worked along-side with outside of work. But that might be because they were quite senior (MDs and Directors) and hence quite busy during the week.