Spring Intern Review

The experience was very insightful and useful for my future career. In particular, we had great insight into the activities of the firm (e.g.: a compelling case study was presented for the Global Corporate and Investment Banking division) and its culture, by means of direct experiences of employees. It could have been even better with more interaction, since there was no video.

I definitely felt valued by the firm for the decision to run the Spring Insight program even in a difficult time (the Covid-19 emergency forced the Bank not to run the program in London as planned, and provide an online experience). It is also a great plus that they offer the candidates soft skills sessions and additional resources to learn more about the Bank's activities.

The recruiters were quite supportive, making sure that most questions from candidates were answered by the speakers. Most sessions included the guidelines of the skills that one should develop to excel in the specfic line of business. At the end of the event there was a session of panelists who had just completed their summer internship.They also gave precious advice.

The insights were definitely a precious tool to understand some key features of Bank of America from the inside. However, I would say that the experience is, at this stage, limited and it is rather an incentive to go in depth with the discovery than a turning point of one's career.

It was very well structured. There were high level descriptions of the overall structure of the bank and of each line of business. Each line of business was presented by senior employees and then some junior analysts gave useful details and advice about their own internships/experiences with the Bank. Some information about what is expected of candidates were given too.

The atmosphere was professional and dynamic.

Soft skills sessions are part of the program and aim to give better chances to make it to the summer internship as well as to promote personal development.

It was definitely a good opportunity to understand what the company does and which divisions one is most interested in. However, I would say that without any specific task given to you, it is difficult to form a precise idea about how things work and how it will be like to have a full time job at Bank of America.

The company exposed most of its values through the Spring insight week. Some analysts recalled that it was easy and natural to obtain help from senior colleagues during their internship. Some directors told us about their experiences of volunteerism. Each session stressed the fundamental values of the company and how these reflect into action.

The program would pay for expenses of traveling to and from London and across the city. In addition, accomodation and some meals were included. Due to the particular present situation, the event was not made as in-person gathering but online. All expenses that had previusly been made could be claimed for reimbursement.

They gave us the chance to build a conncetion with a Buddy who is currently at the Bank. This opportunity could be crucial when applying for the summer internship because a buddy can provide advice from his experience and tailored to your personality. Other opportunities are reaching out online to other candidates, especially on LinkedIn.

I would definitely recommend to try it for two reasons. One is the early exposure to a very well structured work environment, which really helps to understand the contrast with the academic world. Second, with this program you benefit from the opportunity to be selected for summer internship before people who did not do the program and you receive advice on how to make it through the assessment.