Summer Intern - Commercial Banking Review

I really enjoyed being placed in Commercial banking. To begin with it was challenging to see where my role would fit in within the team but I quickly worked out which 'niche' I would most enjoy. Due to the nature of the business, sometimes it was difficult going out on client meetings, but I enjoyed learning, researching and evaluating the different companies and industries

It was very different than being in a branch. In branch you are introduced directly in the weekly meeting, however as a lot of the team are out and about, in some cases this initial briefing was missed - so you had to go about and introduce yourself. Again, once you settle in, and your colleagues get to know your skills they start to give you jobs to do which is always highly appreciated.

In this case, I had to ask for feedback, it wasn't done in a regular and conventional manner. However whenever I asked I always received direct and honest feedback - looking at the past, present and future.

As the weeks go by, your team really begins to fully 'utilise' you. For me, its about knowing how much you can handle. Not only do you have to focus on your day-day work in the department you are in, but also you have to focus on your objectives set by HQ. I had to learn how to say no, in order to maintain the standard of my work.

I had to write a lot of reports which would then be sent to management to be checked. They were quite detailed and after writing them I would always be given feedback, of how to improve next time.

I am happy knowing that if I continued in this job role, or moved onto Corporate bankig I would be able to take these skills that I have learned. I have learned how to negotiate, write a proper business report as well as check company financials.

The ongoing deals are quite serious, which means that the office at times can be quite quiet however a lot of the time people stopped to have a joke.

I am not sure what went wrong, but somewhere down the line there was quite a lot of confusion that made my first day quite difficult. But both HR and my managers tried their best to accomadate me.

I have the free roam to spend time with the other graduates and my team members, finding out their job roles and how they fit into the business. This is really helpful as normally if you say you are interested in a particular area they will guide you and if they can't help will forward you to another personl to contact. In this case, not only are you broadening your network but you are also getting to know the functions of the bank in more depth.

I would seriously consider an offer.

Yes, I really enjoyed socialising with the other intern. The bank, internally, put some things on - but we also as interns organise events that both interns and grads come to.

London - as the capital its certainly not cheap, but you get additional pay for being in London.

London is a great. Its varied, you can get cheap as well as expensive - it has something for everybody.

There bank is really good at mixing the grads and interns. I've been for drinks, meals and there are lots of charity work going on that you can get involved in.