Technology Analyst Review

Considering the experience was virtual, the internship exposed me to so many different divisions and I got a better understanding of how each division works in conjunction. I got a lot of responsibility from day one and I was quickly included in the team's daily meetings, making me feel welcomed and included.

When I was assigned my project, I managed to actually produce some functionality for my team and my team started to use the code I wrote, which made me feel like I had contributed and made a difference. I was also asked for my opinion on team decisions during daily meetings.

I didn't get a lot of guidance at the start about my project but I started to ask around in my team and other neighbouring teams and everyone was very approachable. So whenever I did have questions, people spent time with me and tried to make sure I understood what the issue was.

I learnt so much about how to communicate in a professional setting. I also got a much better understanding of how code is built using tools such as Git, Jenkins etc. Another thing I learnt was how to network with colleagues and people in positions that you are interested in.

Very well structured as there were sessions every week for the interns to keep us engaged and access to hear from members who are very high up in the company. We had 2 weeks of training and these weeks had sessions everyday with interesting talks about company culture and different divisions in the bank.

The company culture was very welcoming with a big emphasis on diversity and inclusion making everyone feel comfortable. As interns, we were always encouraged to ask as many questions and to speak up in meetings with ideas. This meant that I felt comfortable and always wanted to strive for excellence.

We had a buddy and mentor on hand to give us advice and we had 2 weeks of training sessions to equip us with necessary knowledge to get through the internship. However, I felt I didn't get much technical training in terms of software engineering knowledge and different languages.

As I was given a good amount of responsibility I got an understanding of what it takes to contribute to the team and how much work is needed to be done on a daily basis. I had chats with many members of my team to understand more about the role too.

Having exposure to networks within the bank, and many talks about the core values of the bank definitely helped me to understand about what makes up the company culture. I saw these values being implemented when I was in my team which was very encouraging to witness when I was working.

The content was not something I want to do in the future but I fully appreciate that I could not be given too much responsibility as I am just a new intern who doesn't have all the technical skills yet. Definitely helped me to understand more about what I want to do.

I was paid very adequately for the experience and work I did for the amount of time I was there. The money wasn't the reason why I chose to take up this internship but the reimbursement was definitely a bonus as I felt like I got a good amount of money for the work I did.

The culture of the company definitely encouraged the interns to ask everyone questions and organise meetings with members of different teams. There were also plenty of opportunities to talk to members of the bank that were high up during the internship organised sessions every week, which were very insightful and useful.

There weren't any networking sessions as such, it was mostly down to the interns to try and connect and network with as many different people as they could. I feel like there could have been more intern networking sessions, i.e. working in groups, but I appreciate the difficulty with everything being virtual.

Yes there were many sessions which were held in the first two weeks of the internship which showed what opportunities are out there which are outside of work. We also had a volunteering session one afternoon which gave me an insight into what the bank provides outside of my career development.

As long as my friend is willing to continually strive for excellence, I would definitely recommend the internship to them as it is an amazing experience to understand about how the bank operates, build their network and gain some technical experience that they can use going forward in their career.