Operations Analyst Review

I enjoyed my work placement and gained a lot of knowledge from the different teams in my area of Operations. Despite the COVID-19 crisis intervening, the internship was able to take place virtually and this was organised really well, ensuring everyone at home has a work desktop set up. We have also been participating in internship activities such as Musical Bingo and networking with interns from other centres in the UK and even in the US.

I do feel valued by my colleagues as they are always ensuring to check up on me on the work they set me from the beginning of the internship. I had set objectives with my line manager at the start and throughout the internship I have been shadowing different colleagues working on tasks with either my line manager or Vice President. I have received a great insight into my team and what they do day-to-day.

I have been given a lot of support and guidance by my line manager and team members. I tend to have daily meetings with my line manager at the end of a working day so that she can catch up on everything I worked on during that day and if I have any questions from anything I learnt. Similarly, my team members have weekly meetings with them on a 1:1 basis to also check up on me and inform me about what they do.

I was busy most days, it picked up as the internship went on. Sometimes I would have a lot of meetings during the day and other days I would have quite a quiet day but I would still have things to do such as filling my objectives document on whether I'm on track to meet my objectives, or my controls task where I have to categorise the controls to manual/automated/semi-automated, or work on my presentation at the end of the internship.

I was given some responsibility with the tasks I was set as I was left to my own devices to do them and present them at the end of the internship. However the tasks I was set wasn't necessarily too many or too difficult but I could still feel quite challenged when doing them as it required me to find out from other resources about the topic and listen to peoples experiences and knowledge of the field.

I gained a lot of skill with this internship such as the confidence when talking to stakeholders such as directors and Vice President; the ability to ask questions about the topic as well as suggestions that could be done; and the different ways of interacting depending on who I am having a conversation with and ranging in formality. I have also learnt a lot of IT skills such as Excel and setting up a desktop on my laptop.

As I was working from home the general atmosphere was quite good as the rest of the people in the house were also working so we respected each others environment. Whenever I began a meeting, i would ensure i was in a quiet environemtn but also one with good WIFI connection. I had some difficulty with WIFI for a couple of days but it was fixed. I did struggle finding a work office at home and was never fixed but still was comfortable doing it in my own home.

it was very organised, we have many speakers set up throughout the internship whether its learning about the diversity and inclusivity culture within the bank such as women in business, LGBTQ+ in business as well as a multicultural environment. Alongside this, we had intern activities with all of the UK interns or the US and UK interns joining and would do some activities where we get to know each other and work as a team together.

They invested in the interns a lot. first of all, they did some excel training with us over a few sessions to ensure we can fully grasp the vital skills needed for excel. it began from the very basics to quite intermediate so that whoever was not confident with excel could learn from the whole process. Alongside this, we also learnt how to influence and inspire others with our ideas and behaviour in the office, and how to network.

It is very appealing as it guarantees us a job at the end of our final year at university and gives us a sense of security knowing that we will hae a job waiting for us. Also, the graduate scheme offered to us consists of 2-3 rotations so if you are not happy with the current area you are working in you can try other places until you have to make a decision and then work permenantly in that area.

There was a good social scene with the situation we are currently in, so it was the best it could be. The other interns in the UK and I set up a WhatsApp groupchat so if anyone had any questions or queries we could put it on the groupchat for anyone to answer and help each other out. Also, the other interns in my centre in Northampton would set up weekly calls so that we can catch up and talk.

As I was working from home, there was no to little possibility of socialising with the other people from the office as everyone worked from different places. However, i did continue to socialise with friends from home after work as it was good to have a work-life balance and it did mean I had to come back early evening to prepare for the next working day but was still good to do. The cost of living in st albans and socialising can be quite expensive.

There was no nightlife for part of the internship due to COVID but there were restaurants and bars still starting to open up and this was relatively busy but the eat out to help out scheme did make restaurants become busier over time. These places still respected social distancing with tables and how to order food or drinks, so it adapted with the times. It has slowly started opening up as the internship went on.