Intern Review

Overall the internship was a very positive experience. I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of responsibility given to interns, and how supportive the culture is. Personally, I found the highlight of this internship to be the fact that interns are actively encouraged to network with current employees (including senior management), which is exceptionally useful for professional development. I would 100% recommend doing this internship.

I didn’t meet anyone at the FCA who was unapproachable. Moreover, all members of my team were very supportive and allowed me to work on a plethora of projects with high-visibility, as well as attend various meetings with management. On top of this, the culture at the FCA is very friendly, and everyone seems to be willing to help, irrespective of one’s seniority.

Although interns are trusted to focus on their projects, guidance and support were always accessible. Regular team meetings were held to ensure everyone’s work was on track (interns were always invited to these), and two official meetings are scheduled with your manager as part of the internship in order to obtain feedback. Tasks were always very clear, and would be explained further if necessary.

Work at the FCA is very flexible- although I chose to take on a lot and ended up being very busy, it is equally possible to take a more relaxed approach in order to network or prioritise other aspects of the internship. It should be kept in mind that you will not be given a lot to do if you do not actively ask for it.

I was given the chance to work on projects which would reshape a key business process at the FCA. As such, the work was scrutinised by senior management, and I consistently had a key role in relevant meetings. The amount of responsibility you are given depends on how active you are in making the most of your time during the internship.

Although the majority of the work was unrelated to my degree, the business acumen and networking skills I gained will be very useful for my professional career.

As mentioned, the atmosphere was very relaxed, and people in the office were very friendly. Hot-desking meant that it was possible to meet new people daily, and work in a more collaborative way. People were not overly serious, and were not isolated in individual offices. Casual clothes could be worn on Fridays.

The introductory week was very useful for orientation, and setting up everything necessary to get started was done relatively quickly. Occasionally there were issues with installation of specialist software, however this is department specific, and in most cases will not apply. The lunch and learn scheme was useful in getting a broad overview of the company, and the graduate buddy programme was useful as a support system.

Initial mandatory training helped me get to grips with general aspects of working at the FCA. On top of this, I was provided with access to coursera enterprise to develop my knowledge in specific areas. There were also group training sessions in specific areas (such as non-financial crime). A lot of the development outside of this is individual.

There are many highly interesting lines of work within the FCA. Although the Data Analytics department is new, it is growing rapidly and many interesting projects are available. Moreover, for a public organisation, career progression seems to be very good, with people potentially being promoted directly after the graduate scheme.

Stratford night life is not very good, however getting to central London is not difficult. Many interns were keen on going out weekly, so this internship is attractive for those who are interested in having a good nightlife. This said, going out in London is not cheap, and will make a large dent in the salary.