Intern in Global Market Strats Review

Intern in a Global Market strats team. I was implementing features for a client within a smart router used to execute trades optimally across different venues. This primarily involved understanding the actual algo/strategy i was going to be adding, getting familiar with the codebase surrounding the area i was going to be working in and then adding the feature using C++. Also spent a lot of time networking with employees and other interns to find out more about the different sections of the firm.

I improved my C++ skills as well as learning a lot more about trading and in particular execution and different algos used during execution of trades. There was a lot of compliance training at the start which wasn't particularly relevant to my role but was compulsory (i assume by necessity). Had to present to a large team about my work which developed my presentation skills. There were lots of training sessions provided covering different areas of the wider team.

I was given a lot of responsibility compared to most other interns since I was not doing a rotation so was in the same team for 10 weeks. My project was directly requested by a client and was given free reign to implement it as i saw fit (although my code was checked thoroughly and i had to test it a lot) but this was merged into the main codebase to go into production. Definitely felt like the work i was doing was impactful and I was lucky to be able to do work that would be very similar to day to day work.

I received a lot of guidance and support where needed. Both my manager and another team member helped me whenever I needed any help with my project and understanding and were both brilliant. I was also assigned a buddy who was helpful with more general questions and understanding although he was not in my direct team since it mostly consisted of VP's when I joined. I was asked multiple times by more senior members in the organization if I was getting sufficient support (which i was) which was appreciated as it was actively encouraged to seek help where needed.

Very friendly and encouraging. For me it seemed that as long as you get your work done, no one questions or is on your back which really suited my working style. I had about 100 catch ups with people throughout the entire firm throughout my internship and everyone (at every level) that I emailed was very happy to take the time to chat. Seems like there's a strong culture of encouraging interns to learn as much as possible. Also enjoyed the fact that you are reviewed based on a larger group of people who you choose, since it encourages collaboration and teamwork rather than doing things for personal gain.

To put things into perspective, I came into the internship thinking that It would be a good chance to rule out a career and become a software engineer after university. However, I've ended up deciding on this industry as the right one as it seems that it's a similar type of work except you're actually working directly on products making millions of pounds rather than on some random piece of tech. I've made some great friends as well and will definitely be back if given the chance. Anyone debating whether to come here over another bank or tech company, it's worth it.

Yes

Apply as early as possible since you've got a much greater chance of getting an assessment centre. My biggest piece of advice would be to apply to the spring week program since it's easier to get onto and once you have it you have a much greater chance of getting the summer one and then a job. For assessment centre preparation just do a bunch of leetcode problems as they're good preparation. For the internship itself it's very self contained and there's a lot of support but reading up on some of the terminology surrounding markets and trading would have saved me a lot of time.