Summer Intern Review

My time at the FCA was really good! It was done remotely during the coronavirus pandemic, which meant I probably missed out on some social activities and didn't get to know my team quite as well as I would have liked, but considering the circumstances I'm not sure it could have gone better. Everyone was really welcoming and I was given lots of interesting and important work to do which meant I was kept busy and engaged.

My colleagues were great! They gave me lots of interesting work to do, and when I gave my opinions and judgement on the cases I was working on they listened to me and took everything I was saying on board. Some of my colleagues reached out to have chats to get to know me too, which was particularly good in helping me feel like a real part of the team given my internship was conducted remotely.

I can't praise my manager enough! He was really great at answering my questions and letting me take advantage of the training opportunities that interested me. He let me sit in on lots of different meetings too, which meant I was able to get a nice overview of the work that was being done beyond the specific cases I was working on. When I had questions about different the FCA's different departments, he put me in touch with people he knew in them so they could talk me through some of their work.

Generally I had about the right amount of work to do. At one point I did have to email my manager to ask for a bit more work, but given my internship was done remotely it was impossible for me to just drop in on someone and pick up work straight away, which meant that everything was slowed down to some extent. My manager and colleagues also made sure I knew to let them know if I was overburdened, which meant I was able to give everything the attention it deserved.

I was given lots of responsibility! The FCA's work obviously has to be very carefully checked as it's the regulator so my work was reviewed by colleagues, but they were very clear that it was my own work so if I disagreed with any of their suggestions we could talk through them. I was working on real investigation cases and doing real analysis work on them, in some cases producing memos for the whole case team to read. I was also given the opportunity to transcribe and analyse an interview before giving my assessment of it.

I learned a lot during my time at the FCA. I did lots of analysis work, comparing multiple documents to see if they were consistent and following the rules in place, and this kind of close reading and critical thinking will be helpful in both my degree and in the workplace (including at the FCA if I get asked to come back!). I also got the opportunity to work with groups of people in a professional setting which is something I hadn't done before, and this will no doubt be crucial wherever I end up.

It's hard to say for sure as I was doing my internship remotely during the coronavirus pandemic, but it seems like the atmosphere would be nice. The people I worked with were very easy to get along with during our team catch ups, and we had wider departmental catch ups and 'afternoon teas' where we got to play various team building games. My team also spoke really positively about the office and some mentioned they missed being there, so it sounds like the atmosphere must be pretty good!

It was really well organised! Because of the coronavirus pandemic it had to be adjusted at short notice, but it was managed very well! They had to cut the duration by a few weeks to adjust the internship appropriately, but they still paid us for the full 10 weeks and made sure we were kept updated throughout the process. There were lots of training events arranged for us alongside our work, and talks every week which meant we got a good chance to learn lots about the rest of the FCA beyond our own departments.

We were given three hour training sessions on different professional skills each week which would apply in any workplace, alongside an online training programme we were given to work through in our own time. There were also lots of other FCA-specific training events available that my manager either suggested to me or thought would be good for me when I raised them that I got to attend. All in all, I got to take advantage of lots of training opportunities so definitely learned a lot during my time here!

Relatively good, I think. I haven't heard back yet but the ongoing feedback I've been given by my team members and colleagues has been quite positive so I'm optimistic. I also know the recruitment process for interns is more or less the same as for graduates, which means that by the time we get here the FCA are already quite confident in our abilities and as far as I'm aware the majority of interns are typically given return offers.

No, but this is purely because my internship took place remotely during the coronavirus pandemic, so I didn't get the chance to meet any of my colleagues or fellow interns in real life! Everyone was really nice though and I got on well with the people I worked with, and we had team catch up calls where we just talked about how we were getting on/what was going on in our lives rather than work, which was definitely good for morale.

This doesn't really apply to my internship because it was conducted remotely in response to the coronavirus pandemic, so I just got to work from home. The FCA is, however, based in Stratford, so in normal years the cost of living would reflect that - relatively expensive because it's in London which naturally has a very high cost of living, but not outlandishly so relative to London prices. The internship is also quite well paid and in my research before my internship was moved online it seemed like I'd definitely be able to afford to stay there.

This doesn't really apply to my internship because it was conducted remotely in response to the coronavirus pandemic, so I just got to work from home. That being said, the FCA is based in Stratford in London which means the nightlife would've been pretty good. Although the nightlife in Stratford itself probably isn't the best, it's in London which means there would have been easy access to places for a night out elsewhere. Stratford also has lots of shops and restaurants, so there's still a fair bit to do close by.

This doesn't really apply to my internship because it was conducted remotely in response to the coronavirus pandemic, so I just got to work from home. That said, there were lots of opportunities advertised to us which we'd have been able to take part in in a normal year and will be able to take part in if we join the grad scheme. The FCA have 'networks' of people from different backgrounds (e.g. protected characteristics, social mobility) which people can get involved in to help make the FCA a more equal place, and they also have lots of other social clubs like language learning groups and sports groups that people can get involved in.