Internal Audit Intern Review

I thoroughly enjoyed the internship and felt like a really valued team member at NatWest Group. They did a fantastic job at showcasing their culture and that it would be a great place to work. I particularly enjoyed the Hackathon session and would suggest that other talks included more interactive sessions such as this one. I also realised that other teams were given projects to carry out which would have been valued on my Internal Audit placement.

I felt like a valued member of the NatWest Group community throughout my 4 week placement. It was valuable to hear from the Heads of Audit and the chief auditor [This section of the comment has been removed by a member of the RateMyPlacement Team because it did not meet our site terms and conditions] took particular interest in the interns which was a great experience. Engaging with graduates made it apparent that all staff truly care for each other and will be happy to engage in any conversation. Having smaller groups in the second week made it sure that our questions were answered in detail.

I particularly enjoyed having a buddy to engage with. I know buddy experiences varied with how useful they were but I feel that I will keep in touch with mine beyond the internship. We only had one email to someone within the Internal Audit team but after hearing some feedback she tried to give us more contacts so we can ask follow up questions. Having continued feedback made me feel that we were being listened to and supported with whatever we felt they could do better.

We were engaging with the group for around 1-2 hours a day. Considering they were catering for interns in 20 countries and different time zones, this felt like a good balance. I would have liked to engage in some sort of personal or group project to help fill the day a little more while also perhaps developing presentation skills etc. I really enjoyed the CSR challenge which allowed us to engage with interns and network outside of the zoom calls.

Due to taking part in this internship virtually, we did not have much responsibility and we were not able to take part in any direct work for NatWest. Our main responsibility was to take part in each of the zoom calls and engage with the sessions and other interns. We also had the responsibility of raising money through a charity fundraising event for The Princes Trust which was a fantastic opportunity.

I felt like I especially developed my skills and knowledge in building strong relationships and how to network successfully both in person and online. I found the maximising potential session particularly helpful and I became more self aware with regards to my own strengths and weaknesses. I also enjoyed the Hackathon session and found it was useful to start thinking creatively. I think the skills I have developed will be useful especially when embarking on a career more than for university.

Our internship was virtual but I found that they gave a very good impression as to what the atmosphere would be like in the office. The Group is very people focussed and it is apparent with every colleague that we spoke to. It was very clear how valued the staff are and I feel like I have a good idea how their office setting would be an inspiring place to work. Their employees all speak very highly of the culture.

The internship was very organised overall. Inevitably their where a few technology issues but they were always solved quickly and effectively. Communication between the early career team and the interns was great and I always felt up to date. I especially appreciated the social wall allowing interns to interact and get to know each other before, during and hopefully after the programme. Allowing us to view the presentation slides was also helpful to get an idea of what the sessions were about.

I felt that our voices were listened to throughout the whole process. It was useful to have a survey before the programme started to have our input and so they could tailor the sessions to what most wanted to develop our skills in. Having small sessions allowed us to ask questions for our own personal development as well. Also by paying us for the full 10 weeks, it showed their dedication to the internship programme and that they wanted to invest into our time.

NatWest Group is very clearly a great place to work. Throughout the 4 week programme and during many Q and As, I did not hear one thing that would make me question this. They clearly invest in their staff and once they are a part of bank, they do not want to lose them. Many of the people we met have been there for many years and have no intention of leaving. There seems to be many opportunities to succeed and they will do everything they can to accommodate the type of work you wish to be doing.

Some interns engaged in their own social sessions which seemed fun. The social wall was a great idea and was useful for us to being networking and socialising with the interns. There were definitely many opportunities to engage socially, however I felt that there could have been more. Even though there were quite a few breakout rooms, they only lasted for around 5-10 minutes which did not leave much time for socialising. I really enjoyed the Accelerating Innovation workshop which allowed us to work collaboratively for 40 minutes and the icebreaker allowed us to connect and get to know some of the interns.

I cannot comment on this section as the programme was held virtually!

I cannot comment on this section as the programme was held virtually!

We could take part in the CSR challenge which was ran outside of the main work schedule. Some of the interns also organised virtual coffee and games sessions. It may have been nice to have a couple more icebreaker sessions!