Summer Intern Review

I extremely enjoyed my virtual experience with Rothschild & Co this summer. The team I interned with were so welcoming & always happy to help and advise me on areas of improvement. We gained beneficial training in our first week to prepare us, and were also given a project to work on which allowed us to apply the skills we were taught. The only criticism I would give is that I wish the experience was longer than 5 weeks.

As mentioned, everyone on the team was highly welcoming and generous with their time. There was a lot of exposure to more senior members of the team as well which really helped me to feel valued. I was placed on live projects and given sole responsibilities of some tasks, which helped to build rapport & trust between myself and other members of the team. I have no criticism in this area, I truly was made to feel like an integral part of the team.

However much I needed! Whenever I had any queries I felt comfortable enough to reach out to members of the team and they were always happy to set up a call to clear up any issues or to explain more difficult concepts to me. Occasionally, some members of the team would send me resources or articles to read that they knew would assist with my learning without me even having to ask them! For my project, I was assigned a buddy who guided me through it step by step. Im very grateful for all of that support.

I learnt a lot about time management and prioritisation of tasks which I have definitely carried into my university studies and how I manage my work on a daily basis. The virtual format of the internship also somewhat prepared me for what to expect out of an online university experience and ensuring I get the most out of my lectures, just as I did during the internship and trying to get the most out of my experience with the firm.

During our introduction week we were given a detailed schedule of talks and training sessions which were all delivered very seamlessly, on time and with minimal technical issues which was impressive. My reason for giving a 9 and not a 10 is because when working with the team, it was our personal responsibility to ensure we had work, which was mostly not an issue as there was generally a lot to do. Sometimes though, there wouldn't be any work to do - however this can be totally understood as there is a limit to how much responsibility we be given, which I guess was also exacerbated by the virtual format of the internship.

As I've mentioned, I was very, very happy with my experience on the internship. The team I was placed with were so welcoming and fun to talk to and I always felt as though I could be myself and this allowed me to show them my personality as well, and allowed us to develop a nice working relationship. The team would have morning catch up calls 3 times a week which was just a casual catch up, and then also on the penultimate day of the internship, they held informal team drinks. These allowed the team to get to know the interns and for us to get to know them better.

We had 3 days of basic finance and Excel training, which was useful, however I feel as though a longer training period would have definitely been beneficial. The shorter training makes sense as the entire internship was only 5 weeks rather than the normal 10, but maybe even 1 extra day could have been useful to introduce us to some features on PowerPoint, as I personally had to use this a lot during my internship when formatting slides or making my own project.

I personally feel as though I learnt a lot about the role the culture at Rothschild & Co during my internship. I had calls with every member of the team (who were always up for a chat) and when speaking with them and asking questions I learnt a lot about their experiences and what they expect out of a Graduate Analyst. Also, during our introduction week, we had a talk from an Analyst who had gone through both the Spring & Summer internships, so he was able to give us great insight into what is expected.

I learnt so much about the culture at Rothschild & Co despite not being in the office. Everyone I spoke with told me pretty much the same thing - the reason why they love working at the firm is because of the people they work with. The term 'collegiate atmosphere' came up multiple times and I was told about how everyone working with you would always do their best to help you improve. I was told that there is a mostly horizontal team structure meaning that it is easier for a junior banker to have contact with an MD for example.

When starting my internship, I was unsure about what I wanted to do in the future. After the second week (my first week with the team) I realised that I really enjoyed what I was learning and by about half way through the internship I knew I really wanted to pursue a career in this field. I feel quite lucky that I was placed in a team I wasn't initially considering (Debt Advisory) and it turned out to be extremely appealing to me in comparison to the M&A sector teams.

I was paid and reimbursed food expenses at £3 per day. I feel like the food expense reimbursement was generous of the firm considering we weren't in the office.

There weren't any planned networking sessions, it was up to us to set up calls and network with members of the team. I was able to speak with everyone on the team multiple times so I feel as though I had a good experience. We were also assigned mentors, who were bankers from different teams and this allowed us to speak with someone from a different area of the business, which was quite interesting and useful.

The calls I set up with members of my team / my mentor were about 15 - 30 minutes and very beneficial to get me settled into the internship. I had calls like this pretty much every week. We had an informal drinks at the end of the internship with the team and this was a great experience to get to know everyone in a casual setting and also for me to show my personality too.

During my time there, members of the firm were involved in a charity event where you run or do some form of exercise and the amount you do translates into points and the team with the most points wins. It was quite nice to hear the details of this and how the whole firm gets involved.

Yes - I had an amazing experience and have already recommended friends to apply for the Summer Internship at Rothschild & Co.