Strategy Analyst Review

I enjoyed the 10 week Strategy Analyst placement that I had this summer greatly. I was nervous going in, worried I'd just be shadowing or completing menial, pointless tasks, as had been my previous working experience, but I was genuinely surprised that that was not the case at all. I was given a genuine business problem that meant I felt like I was adding genuine value to Capital One and that I wasn't a drain on everybody's time.

The project I worked on was original work, so I was valued in that my colleagues didn't know what answers I would reach. Anything I found out was mostly new to them, so I was not time wasting and genuinely contributing to the success of the business. Colleagues asked me questions on areas where I had gained more knowledge and the team I was placed in had a great atmosphere. Everyone was friendly and I could always ask for help.

I had daily meetings - and some days with multiple meetings - with my manager and weekly with a buddy team member. They supported me brilliantly through my project guiding me in the right direction and pointing out interesting nuggets of information I might have missed off. They were always available throughout the day to assist in any small day-to-day struggles and helped me grasp the database language SQL that was essential for my job role.

I had a single project through my entire ten week internship that was extremely open ended. I always had just the right amount of work to do and never felt bored. Some days towards the end of my internship I worked late to improve my final presentation, but this was a personal choice - out of pride! The project frequently took on a new direction as I found more things out and that ensured there was always more and new stuff to investigate.

The project I worked on was original - a task that genuinely needed to be completed. I added real value to the business. The project was open-ended and I was mostly given free reign to take it in any direction that I thought would be useful and interesting. My experienced manager would occasionally point me in a different direction if he could see I was falling down a rabbit hole, but if there was every anything I particularly wanted to investigate, I was given complete autonomy to do so.

A range of training activities over the first few weeks helped develop a range of soft and social skills. Presentation skills were key and I spent a lot of time perfecting my slide presentation to ensure it conveyed the right message. As a strategy analyst, most of my work was spent using the large Capital One databases and I learnt from scratch the database programming language SQL - the training and support for this was brilliant. I also saw improvements to my Excel work.

Everyone was extremely friendly. The small team I was placed in to was extremely social and friendly. We had two lunches as a team per week as well as several team meetings. With the intern cohort we would lunch together regularly. There was a great culture where nobody was afraid to ask for help and anyone you asked would always be on hand to provide assistance if they could. Networking with people not in my immediate team was also very easy.

Fantastic organisation from start to finish. Clear communication throughout and before hand to ensure that I knew exactly what to do and when. Months ahead os starting, the company were in touch. We had sessions before the start of the programme to meet other interns. Days were structured and it was easy to fit in both work and social time with the team and other interns. Always programme team members on hand to answer questions about what was going on

They invested heavily. Throughout the internship the company provided training and outside agencies to deliver sessions ranging from technical (presentation, public speaking, SQL programming) to more soft skills (developing a personal brand). A range of senior leaders in the business spoke to us about how to maximise our careers and make the most of the internship. Managers and mentors spent a lot of their working time talking to us to help through the process and learn more about Capital One and the credit industry in general.

We spoke frequently throughout the internship to graduates who had started on the internship programme and progressed - the new CEO joined as a graduate. Capital One invest heavily into the internship for a reason - plenty of us will be coming back to work with Capital One in the future. There are many teams and opportuniteis to join as a graduate with rotations through two teams. After that it is also common for employees to change jobs and departments frequently, keeping the roles interesting.

There was a very good social scene. There were intern hangouts everyday before and after work. There were lunch opportunities every week with interns and any free time could be spent playing a game with other interns to get to know them. Capital One ran a social challenge putting interns into teams and encouraging us to compete to get involved, earn points and hopefully win a prize. After work escape rooms and murder mysteries were common too.

The office is in London (next to Old Street station) so it is easy to commute to. Costs are basically as expected from working in London - quite high. There are many shops (e.g. Tesco and other similar premises) where food and drink can be purchased for standard prices throughout the day. There are also many establishments including pubs and restaurants nearby and a cafe inside the building, which are fairly expensive as expected. There are easy routes into Central London.

There office is near to Central London so there is plenty to do at night time. There are pubs and bars within walking distance, and the main city is a short tube or bus ride away. The nearest station is Old Street - approximately 100 feet from the the office, so it's very easy to use. As an intern group, escape rooms and murder mysteries were completed. Expensed team lunches and dinners took place, some times in the evening.

Capital One put on a large range of optional activities out of the workplace. I attended panel talks and debates about a range of social issues. There were fun escape rooms and murder mystery events after work and throughout the day I might have team socials and team lunches. The atmosphere was always very social. We had speaker events with people coming in to talk to the group and plenty of time to get to know the employees and other interns.