Technology Solutions Review

Working at RBS was a pleasurable experience, the people and culture in the bank is better than what I expected, people are generally friendly and seem to be open to inquisitive learners! For such a big organisation though, there will be some people who may not be so keen, but compared to other banks I think RBS/NatWest are doing very good. The only downside I would say is that my role wasn't really what I expected to do. The whole application process was very clear apart from the specifics in my daily tasks. This resulted in a different role I thought hoped to do, however still giving me invaluable experience.

I participated in a very important project regarding the restructuring of the banks strategy and goal alongside my colleagues, and though I was an intern, there wasn't any times where I would be excluded from meetings or given secondary treatment. I was treated as if I was a full time employee for the most part. The team was like a family, and though we could get work done, we could joke and increase the family culture that pertains in RBS. Disclaimer: Because RBS is such a large organisation, not all departments will be like the one I was apart of, and therefore this could be different in other roles.

I was given the right amount of support I would expect for the majority of the internship, however with some extenuating circumstances with some colleagues that couldn't happen all the time (which unfortunately is a part of life) I was given a lot of freedom in all the decisions that I made, and was encouraged to do so. Therefore I was able to increase my problem solving skills and really grow in resilience, though vast amounts of help from various people was always there if I needed it.

Because I had been given the task to do a lot of important projects, I was fairly busy towards the middle and end of the internship. The start was quite slow due to access being granted on certain systems and the internship requirements being set. I was able to complete all my tasks however, I did have a lot of tasks to do. In reflection maybe it could have been more beneficial if I had been appointed completed less tasks, improving the quality of some deliveries. Amongst some interns, I was one of the most busy.

I was given a decent amount of responsibility early on. I was responsible for the launching of an initial project that was to be undertaken over the next few months, and through this great responsibility, I definitely felt valued and more inspired to continue and improve my work.

Because my role was not the role I initially wanted to pursue, it would not assist me in a great amount in my degree studies at this present time, but I still adopted many key skills and practices from working in a large corporate organisation.

The atmosphere was very good in RBS. My location was in 250 Bishopsgate in the Living Rooms. The Living rooms being an open floor plan office space, reminiscent of a coffee shop, enabled free flowing and dynamic working environments. There was also social areas such as table tennis tables and giant connect 4 boards!

Due to the current structure and architecture of RBS and NatWest, they were only able to onboard us properly as soon as we started. Because we were unable to have access initially there was many slow processes we had to undertake. Additionally, due to being a large organisation, authorisation requests was the greatest bottleneck. However my team were organised in their structure and that compensated for a lot of the downtime I had.

I had a graduate buddy to help me adjust to my working environment, and coming from someone who was also of a similar age it really helped in making me adjust to the working lifestyle. Additionally to my line manager I had what you would call an assistant line manager, or coach. Regular 1:1 meetings with all three of these people would enable me to know and develop my skills.

The conversion rate for RBS is very high, due to their new structure for the organisation, they're focusing on young talent entering the workforce and using their different mindset to change the 'traditional bank structure' I was able to get a grad offer for RBS by the grace of God

my fellow interns were one of the most friendly people I have met in the workforce. We would always support each other, build each other up and encourage each other in our day to day work. Our friendship wasn't limited to the workplace and that counts for a good culture.

The City of London is an expensive area, and therefore it wasn't going to be so easy financially to do lots of events in the area.

I don't go out at all, so I wouldn't be the one to judge this.

We all participated in the Corporate Responsibility Challenge, however other than this the activities that I was a part of were fairly limited. Other interns had more opportunities to do extra entrepreneurial work.