Research Assistant Review
by Bank of England
This review was submitted over 4 years ago, so some of the information it contains may no longer be relevant.
Rating
-
The Role
3.3
-
The Company
3.5
-
The Culture
3.5
- 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
Was up and down depending on what was going on, and towards the 13-months was far too long to spend doing something which is essentially very repetitive and low level.
It was always clear that we (the RA's) were the lowest person in the office, but at the same time we knew how to do things that those above us didn't and that gave us some value to them - though perhaps not the sort of value that you want from in a job.
They tended to have better things to do, and our jobs didn't require much in the way of support and guidance.
Very volatile, most things were based on a routine - daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly. The week of the quarterly task coinciding with the monthly was always under pressure and the busiest person in the office. The rest of the time I was probably the least busy.
Responsibility over the presentation of charts, tables and presentation, but mainly because no one else felt they wanted to be responsible for those things.
Excel skills are priceless. (honest)
The Company
I was lucky enough to be positioned on the dealing floor, there was therefore always an atmosphere with people discussing or on the phone plus the TV's in the corner showing the news, cricket or deal or no deal.
The BoE was a large organisation that took many placement students and had been doing so for some time.
It was clear from early on that the Bank was not employing you for the option to employ you as a graduate, you were some cheap labour for 13 months and were treated as such.
Flexi Time
Subsidised Canteen
Sports and Social Club
Subsidised/Company Gym
Financial Bonus
Company Parties/Events
See previous point. Anyone could enter the graduate scheme, but with no implicit advantage over anyone who hadn't done the placement. There seemed to be a ratio of around 1 in 15 doing so each year.
The Culture
There was, but you had to get over the fact out of 20 people there would only about 4 who would want to do anything after the first month is over. I think our year had some particularly divisive people so I'll give it a good score as there is plenty of potential for a great social scene.
It's London, can't expect it to be cheap. Would of been nice if pay was slightly higher to reflect that.
City of London so there was a lot of pubs around for after work, plus a tube journey away from anywhere else in the greatest city in the world.
Some, not that I was involved in any of it.
Details
Placement (10 Months+)
Banking
London
August 2007
