Corporate and Institutional Banking Easter Intern Review

Certainly enjoyable, managed to learn a lot about RBS Corporate Banking. Had a lot of exposure to management so there were many opportunities to ask questions.

To my suprise all the employees at the bank wholeheartedly welcomed us, many employees stopped by to introduce themselves.

It was clear a lot of the employees enjoyed their roles as bankers, however some didn't and weren't so enthusiastic, i.e. they didn't 'pitch the dream' whereas many others did. However all employees were personable and helped you fulfill your tasks. Many of the new employees to RBS gave great general career and university advice.

Throughout the week there was a strict itinery, about half lot of it was passive learning (i.e. listening to presentations), which inevitably became boring however the other half consisted of making presentations, playing the roles of an RBS graduate and reading through and commenting on credit reports.

As with other insights, we were not 'employed' by them, and with that comes no/very little responsibility.

A lot of sector specific knowledge, also learnt a great deal about RBS group. Little of what I learnt can be applied to other industries/lines of work - except it seems useful to be able to see things from the perspective of a banker.

All other interns were cheerful and like-minded. All employees seemed happy and welcoming, although it was clear many were being over-worked.

Strict itinery throughout the programme with a mix of activites. The first day we had to endure presentations and a short introduction to financial markets (it really doesn't go beyond A-level understanding). The rotations were very well organised, no day was a repeat of the day before and also got the chance to network with employees one evening.

Clear a lot of intentional money effort and resources were put into the week-long programme. Most of the presentations had our self-development as a key factor (the others were more learning about RBS). Such presentation included the importance of inter-personal skills (confidence, first-impressions etc.), memory techniques and building knowledge of the financial industry.

Good chance of converting the week to a summer internship depending on your enthusiasm and ability to nail presentations / interviews. The scheme gives a little comparative advantage over others when applying to other areas of RBS other than the corporate bank (i.e. the investment bank / Coutts etc.)

We ate out every night, everyone was very friendly and personable. I am happy to say it lacked the 'get one up on your colleague' culture that I expected.

A hard question to answer, given that we were put up in a (decent) hotel, which included breakfast. We were also given an allowance for lunch of £5 and £10 for dinner. BUT spending it doesn't go far - as expected with central London.

It is central London, however I wasn't there long enough to enjoy it! If you want to go out, I am sure there are places to do so [at a cost].

Again, this question doesn't really apply to the week-long insight, however finishing between 5-8 most days, left us with little else to do other than the pub and having dinner with the interns. I am sure there are opportunities if you look for them.