Intern Review

The first day was in-office and involved listening to talks from female leaders, networking with graduates in different divisions and learning about purpose and mindset in interactive self development workshops. On the second virtual day, we tuned in to a conference by Natwest’s charity partners and then separated in to groups to create presentations on an app idea for youth cancer cards. After there was an internship experience panel and coffee chats with employees.

During the group presentation, I picked up ideas on how to effectively organise a group. The experience reminded me about the importance of time management and leadership. Talking to employees and graduates, I have formed a better idea of my future career aspirations and learned more about the functions and jobs of different banking divisions. The self insight workshops developed my reflection skills and reminded me to pursue a path that aligns with my values.

Networking with employees and graduates in different roles taught me about the day-to-day expectations of the roles and brought to my attention which divisions I would not like to pursue. During the virtual day, we got to speak with graduates in Data and Analytics, Digital Transformations, Natwest markets and Internal Audit. This was a great opportunity to ask any questions about their daily tasks and find out about the different career pathways. In person, there were stands with groups of graduates from over 6 divisions. This was a brilliant way for me to network and ask any specific questions to inform my decision on which summer internship to apply for. The only limitation was the time, as the session was put on during lunch, between eating and asking lots of questions I didn't get to speak to everyone. But, it was enough for me to talk with the teams which interested me the most. I also wish that I could have met the markets team in person, but they were only present at the London office. When I was submitting my preferences for the summer internship, I noticed there were a few divisions I hadn't met during the internship, so I felt slightly unsure about the full scope of opportunities that exist.

Everyone during the internship was super friendly. The HR staff was very helpful and prompt at responding to my emails. People at the bank seemed generally happy and passionate about their careers. Many of the women speaking at the panels were very motivated and interested in their respective projects and careers. A lot of the talks mentioned the client centric attitude of the company, however, it is expected that most banks want to emphasise this.

The insight was great, I was impressed by the beautiful location and it was very pleasant talking to the employees, who were all very helpful and friendly. I also really enjoyed making friends with fellow interns on the programme. Some parts did feel a little boring as I was keen on hearing divisions that interested me but there wasn’t much insight on the investment banking team. The virtual day was a lot more tiring.

Yes

For the spring insight experience, don’t stress about the application process. The virtual interview is mainly situational judgement so you don’t need to spend ages researching the company, just do your best to answer the questions well using the STAR method. If you are planning on converting for a summer internship make sure to be intentional with your networking so you can find out which divisions you like the best. Get to know the pathways by finding out which teams you can be a part of if you join each division. For example, through Digital Transformations, during the grad scheme you can do a rotation in Property Services, Retail Strategy, Performance and Business management, etc.