This review was submitted over 4 years ago, so some of the information it contains may no longer be relevant.
Rating
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The Role
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The Company
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The Culture
- 1. To what extent did you enjoy your work placement or internship?
- 2. To what extent did you feel valued by your colleagues?
- 3. To what extent were you given support and guidance by management/your supervisor(s)?
- 4. How busy were you on a daily basis?
- 5. How much responsibility were you given during your placement?
- 6. To what extent did/will the skills you developed, and training you received, assist you in your degree studies and beyond?
- 7. What was the general atmosphere in your office?
- 8. How well organised was the overall work placement or internship set up?
- 9. In terms of personal training and development, to what extent did the company or firm invest in you?
- 10. What were the perks on your work placement?
- 11. How appealing are future employment prospects within the organisation?
- 12. Was there a good social scene amongst any fellow placement students/colleagues?
- 13. What was the cost of living and socialising in the area you worked in?
- 14. What was the Nightlife like in the area you worked?
- 15. Were there many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work?
The Role
I really enjoyed my internship. It was thoroughly enjoyable. Everything was arranged meticulously from the rigorous training to the almost weekly talks we were given on sector specific teams that gave us a more well rounded understanding of different work streams/ work life balance etc. Moreover, everyone was very helpful and if I did not know / understand something were incredibly understanding and willing to help
I felt incredibly valued by my colleagues. They were very understanding of my ability and knew that I had a knack to learn and was keen and motivated and I could tell I was highly valued as they wanted me to learn and gave me extra exercises to facilitate my learning. I was also given independent work to work on which was quite important which gave me an indicator that I was valued within the team.
I was given an incredible amount of support and guidance by management / supervisors. They could tell that I was still young and consequently had a lot to learn but appreciated my honesty and motivation to excel and were therefore more willing to take time out of their busy schedules to help me and teach me things that I did not initially know
Regarding business, overall I was quite busy. Obviously this varied week by week depending on how much work the team had in general. The months of my internship were typically quite busy as well. However, I still had ample time to be social, go to the bar and catch a drink with the team etc.
As I said in the previous answers, I was given an incredible amount of responsibility - I guess this comes from working at a smaller bank with much leaner deal teams (something I particularly enjoyed) - I was given loads of exposure as at time I worked with Assistant / Managing Directors!
I believe the skills I learn will help me a great deal going forward. I learned how to work well in a team and work collaboratively - I think this was something that I learned the most - especially when you work in a smaller team , it is so important to be a team player because everyone carries weight and is important to a large extent.
The Company
The atmosphere in general was very fun . I was very lucky with the institution I was at and the team more specifically - it was a work hard play hard environment which I liked - the work is clearly important but so is the social life which I really valued
The internship was really well organised from the rigorous training at the start which kickstarted our internship to the almost weekly talks given by the respective teams within the bank who gave us a thorough outline of the work they do and the work / life balance / culture. If ever I had any queries / requests (like taking a day off for my graduation) this was very well dealt with
As I said before, we had a week of thorough rigorous training given by a well renowned agency. everything was explained extremely well and clearly and for me personally it gave me an insight into the working environment and helped me gain a few technical skills I may have previously lacked which I found very useful after going on the desk
Future employment prospects are extremely appealing with this organisation - I learnt a great deal from the internship and not only did I hope to add value but I felt I was extremely valued myself which is a nice and rewarding feeling and something I was looking for from an organisation
The Culture
Yes there is an incredibly good social scene - it was a very work hard play hard culture which I thoroughly enjoyed. Almost every friday night we would go to the local pub/ bar for a few pints which I thought was particularly nice as it allowed me to take my mind off work for a while
Cost of living was not super expensive or cheap - I guess cheap for Central London prices so it was good. Obviously with the prime central location that the office was at, it was inevitable that some stuff would be expensive but this wasn't ridiculously priced and there were always cheaper alternatives.
Nightlife was really good - we were in the heart of Bank so a lot of lively bars / clubs we could go to on the Friday / Saturday night so we were never in need to go elsewhere ! It was quite affordable and quite popular on weekends so we were very lucky !
Yeah there were a host of opportunities that we could get involved in - there were a number of small social events like drinks on the rooftop but also other bigger ones like go karting which I really enjoyed as it allowed us to mingle as an intern class and have a lot of fun !
Details
Internship (1 Month+)
London
September 2019