This review was submitted over 4 years ago, so some of the information it contains may no longer be relevant.
Rating
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The Role
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The Company
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The Culture
- 1. To what extent did you enjoy your work placement or internship?
- 2. To what extent did you feel valued by your colleagues?
- 3. To what extent were you given support and guidance by management/your supervisor(s)?
- 4. How busy were you on a daily basis?
- 5. How much responsibility were you given during your placement?
- 6. To what extent did/will the skills you developed, and training you received, assist you in your degree studies and beyond?
- 7. What was the general atmosphere in your office?
- 8. How well organised was the overall work placement or internship set up?
- 9. In terms of personal training and development, to what extent did the company or firm invest in you?
- 10. What were the perks on your work placement?
- 11. How appealing are future employment prospects within the organisation?
- 12. Was there a good social scene amongst any fellow placement students/colleagues?
- 13. What was the cost of living and socialising in the area you worked in?
- 14. What was the Nightlife like in the area you worked?
- 15. Were there many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work?
The Role
I absolutely loved it. Of course, IB is busy & everyone applying should be aware of this fact, but I was positively surprised: in my team, my time was actually valued by my colleagues and I got to work on really, really cool projects. Nobody expected me to know everything and they were happy to explain whatever I didn't know, so it also was an incredible learning experience. But the best part was my team: I've never seen anything like it. I could reach out to anyone & they'd take the time for a chat and introduce themselves, no matter if they were an MD or an Analyst (this made the online format of the internship a lot easier)
It was a really great feeling to be staffed on projects with other team members, as everyone was very busy & they genuinely seemed happy to get some help. Especially helpful was that (despite everyone being busy themselves) someone would always take the time to help or explain things (which helped with getting to know people pretty well). I also enjoyed being asked for my opinion on meetings or when working on the projects and people actively listening and trying to incorporate ideas.
In my team, we got an extra senior mentor, in addition to the "Buddy" allocated to everyone. It was a great way to have a go-to person to ask for insight on the long-term career options. Also, we had to do a case study during the internship & my team organised extra trainings every week to cover the technicals and the tools necessary to master each week's deliverable. This was on top of the training arranged by the company in the first week.
Whoever wants to apply to IB should know that it is very busy anyway. I was definitely never bored during the internship & sometimes it could get a bit stressful to get all of the work done in time. We interns were always asked whether or not we felt we had the capacity to do work, but what made it a bit difficult was that it was a bit difficult to estimate the effort the work would take, especially if one hadn't done an internship in the area before. But our staffer was amazing at knowing how we were doing, so it was definitely managable most of the time.
I was really amazed by how much they let an intern do, especially one that hadn't worked in finance before. This contributed a lot to how much I benefitted from this experience, in particular because there were so many times I had to learn new things quickly and was really proud whenever I saw I had mastered a challenge. Of course this would sometimes be a bit scary, but I always had someone I could ask for help or to check my work.
My time managment skills now are incomparable to before - you definitely learn the art of prioritising and finding time where there is none. I am currently finishing my last year of uni & it is certainly easier to get my work & so much more done after this internship! Also, the online format of the internship meant that communication was key to doing anything - a skill everyone should have in life & has helped me since. Of course, financial modelling & accounting basics were also a big part of the internship & I couldn't imagine a better training ground for anyone who wants to work in the industry.
The Company
It was a bit difficult to experience the office atmosphere because the internship was remote (i.e. online). Nevertheless, the team made a real effort to include us in all their events (which were organised on a regular basis) and to connect with us one-on-one. This made it easier to get to know people: of course I could always reach out and ask people if they had time for a virtual coffee chat, but it was very nice that some made the effort to reach out to us interns themselves. Apart from this inclusivity, everyone was also really helpful and would take time out of their day to help with whatever I was having problems with.
I would not have expected a virtual internship to go this well. First of all, the HR team did an amazing job of keeping us up-to-date on what the internship would look like & was very clear in communicating that J.P. Morgan was fully intent on fulfilling their committment and not cancelling the internship. As everything else in 2020 was stressful enough, this was really reassuring! During the internship, the support was great, with mentoring systems put in place & the team making a real effort to help us.
At the start of the internship, we all had a chat with our intern staffer to discuss what goals we had during the internship & whether there was any kind of project we really wanted to do. Of course we couldn't pick every project, but he tried to give us the opportunity to see what we had asked for at some point. Of course it was also lucky, because the team had a lot of projects at the time.
Subsidised/Company Gym
Financial Bonus
Company Parties/Events
Working from home
Healthcare/Dental
Loved the team and the work, so I took the job.
The Culture
Of course this was difficult as the internship was remote this year, but I know from a lot of my friends from university that generally is very easy to socialise with fellow interns. I found it easy too, to get in touch with the other interns on my team: we got to know each other better during the team events & the trainings that were organised for us & then started using zoom to work together and help eachother out as well. I'm still in touch with a few of them & definitely made some new friends
I found a pretty affordable (for London) & incredibly nice flat to rent close to Canary Wharf, which would have made the commute quite easy. Due to COVID, I stayed at home though, but I think it would have been great to stay in London. Definitely would recommend starting to look for places to stay early & to share appartments with a couple of friends. Alternatively, student accommodation that is empty over the summer should be quite affordable too.
Can't really say because the internship was remote.
The company organised volunteering events & also had internal groups organising events and supporting e.g. women in the firm.
Details
Internship (1 Month+)
London
October 2020