Research Assistant Review

I really enjoyed my placement year at the Bank - so much that I didn’t actually want to leave! I got the opportunity to work on lots of interesting projects and was really supported throughout my time. This included through training, talks and regular feedback. The Bank are very concerned with your personal development and allows you to have a good work life balance.

I was given set responsibilities upon joining my team. Some were tasks I was solely responsible for and others were tasks assisting my colleagues. This was useful as it allowed me to take ownership of work but also allowed me to learn new skills. Once I was confident and completing tasks do a good standard this was recognised by my team and I was asked to take part and take on other tasks. I felt sufficiently challenged and felt that I was contributing to the team.

I met with my manager once a week to discuss what I was working on and to ensure I felt challenged but not overwhelmed. We discussed what else I wanted to work on as well as parts of the work I was enjoy and not enjoying as much. This allowed us to steer my experiences whilst at the Bank and also allowed me to work out what my key skills were and what I needed to work on.

Most of the time I felt that I had a stretching yet manageable work load. However, as with every job, there were some occasions when I had lots on. This was not a problem as the Bank allows you to work flexibly so you can put in the extra hours you needed to. My team were also always happy to help with my workload whenever I had too much to do.

I was given autonomy of one of the processes my team worked on. I found this motivating as I had ownership of the whole task and became the team expert on it. Once I had been working with my team I was also given the opportunity to get involved in work I wouldn’t have expected to.

As my degree is so different to the placement I did, most of what I got out of my placement were in terms of soft skills. I have found that giving presentations in my final year is not as daunting and I am much more able. The quality of my writing has also improved following the training I received at the Bank. The placement also helped me decide what industry I would like to work in following the completion of my degree.

The particular floor I worked on was a quiet floor, however this was due to the nature of the work. Everyone was friendly and I always felt able to walk over and talk to any colleagues. It also didn’t feel too quiet that you couldn’t just talk to the people around you without going into a meeting room.

My team had lots of experience with placement students so I always had work to do and had an experienced manager that was excellent in managing placement students. The early careers team were also good at keeping in touch with anything we needed to know. There is also training at the beginning of the placement which is useful.

The Bank runs an incredible amount of courses which you just have to enrol onto online (with your managers approval). These courses include anything from report writing to financial markets training. The Bank also holds talks which are open to all colleagues, these are given by a range of people such as experts from the Bank on certain topics to celebrity guests such as Gary Lineker.

They are a great employer in terms of pension, benefits and flexi working. The best thing is the work life balance. They are also very focused on personal development. The graduate scheme is appealing as you can take your central banking exams or other qualifications along side. The graduate scheme is also only 2 years.

The social scene between the placement students is great. As there are so many of you (approx 30) you get to meet lots of people. The early careers team organise a social in the first week for all placement students which allows you to all meet up and get to know one another. We continued to do something as a group most weeks.

London is an expensive place to drink and eat, however as you are earning it doesn’t seem to much of an issue. I personally commuted to London rather than moving here so can’t comment on the living prices. The Bank give you a loan for your train pass it required.

The bars around the city are great! It is a very social area after work and there is plenty of choice in terms of types of bar or pub. In terms of clubs we found it better to head towards the west end which is easily accessible by the tube.

The Bank offered lots of activities e.g. lunch club, netball and football. There is also a gym and a sports centre you can use using your benefits.