Summer Intern Review

It was a very enjoyable experience and DB made every effort to create a balance for the interns. They also ensured that we had time to network both with the other interns (both in the UK and international), as well as networking with current DB employees. Everyone I interacted with was kind and friendly, and this really helped me to enjoy my summer internship. As a great way to end the internship, they got all the interns to do a virtual escape room, which was a very nice treat

While I was part of the DB team I felt appreciated and valued. They talked to me and listened to me as if I was part of the team. My mentor was keen on ensuring I got the best possible experience out of the internship that I could, and he always took the time to show and explain parts of the DB system. All the interns together helped to make me feel part of a community as well. We felt very close and the weird experience of doing a virtual internship was a great thing to bond and create friendships over.

I was given lots of support at DB. My mentor was extremely helpful and he helped to ensure that any issue I had was addressed promptly. He also showed and taught me about much of the inner workings of DB and this was a very useful insight of what it is like to work in technology in a major company. Whilst there was lots of support available, it never felt like I was being babied. There was lots of freedom to try things in a unique way that allowed me to make use of my own initiative.

Although I was never massively overwhelmed or underwhelmed on any given day, there was certainly a variance in the levels of work that I had to do between any two given days. At the start of the internship there were lots of training meetings and when all of them were finished, we were free to go, even when they finished early. However, when we were working on projects it was not uncommon that I would have to stay working for hour or two extra after the work day was meant to have finished. In all though, I was kept fairly busy, but never truly overwhelmed with work

During the virtual internship I was given minimal real responsibility. There was lots of opportunities to express my independence and have a choice in how a project I was working on went, but all of the projects that I was assigned were practice projects and they were not part of the real DB system. The level of responsibility that I had was limited to how much of a leadership role I wanted to take on while doing the group projects.

I learnt so much about how real world systems are developed and implemented. I learnt about the important practices that are used in industry that have been glossed over in my academic studies. It also gave me an insight into work place dynamics e.g. skills that you could never be taught, but are just as important in the real world as having a solid knowledge base. I will certainly use the skills I have learnt in the future.

As I did a virtual internship, it is hard to properly answer what the atmosphere in the office was like, but I can say that every time I interacted with people it was very good. Through the training seminars, the project meetings, mentor meetings, and the networking sessions, there were plenty of opportunities for me to get a good gauge of what the atmosphere of DB was like. Everyone felt very friendly and kind and helpful. They were happy to be working for DB and they wanted to give me and the other interns support as well.

The internship was very well organised. Before it even started, I was getting frequent updates about what was happening, especially concerning COVID and the changes to the program surrounding it. While on the internship, it was clearly explained what I had to do and when. The times and dates of all my meetings and trainings where clearly documented at the start and DB's use of Skype for Business allowed any additional meetings to be easily scheduled and organised.

The first week and a half was mainly focused on training. They provided training on the key parts of working in a bank (e.g. key financial crime laws), as well as technical training. There were multiple days dedicated to ensuring that all the interns were suitably proficient in the Python skills required to complete the tasks that would be starting in the following weeks. As well as providing a series of training meetings to develop my professional and technical skills, DB also made sure to provide training on a personal level. They helped to teach me about work life balance

Speaking to DB employees who had completed the internship programme themselves, it was clear that most interns got an offer to join DB on the Summer Graduate programme. All of the friends that I made while on the scheme got offers and so it would appear that this holds true. Speaking to more senior members of staff, many had been at DB for a long time and significant part of their career. This, to me, shows the DB is a good company to work for and that there are advantages career benefits to working for them long term.

While it was hard to properly gauge what the social scene was truly like (due to the internship being virtual due to COVID), all of my fellow interns were very easy to get along with and good people. There were fun to talk to and we had many chats outside of work hours and about non work topics. While on the internship, I was assigned a buddy who had previously done the internship and was now on the graduate programme. He was very friendly and explained how normally there was a very good social aspect to working at DB.

Although I was unable to go there during the internship (due to COVID), I am very familiar with the London area where the internship would have normally been based. London is infamously an expensive city. The transport, rent, and post work social activities are extremely expensive. While there are cheap options available, they are often of lower quality and not as nice, but they are not hard to find. It is often more affordable to live outside the city centre and then commute in rather than find accommodation closer to work.

During the virtual internship there were very few opporitnnies to get involved in stuff after work. Although it was possible to talk to the people I'd meet on the internship through social media, there was little to do. Once work was finished for the day, outside of a bit of small talk with my new friends, there was nothing to do. Of course this is very understandable during the current times, and the employees who I spoke to said that normally there is a vibrant atmosphere and life after the work day is done