Intern, Credit Risk Office Review

My placement was a good experience, as I had never worked in the financial services industry before. However, it was not as anaytical as I hoped it would be.

I got along very well with my team, and they were very friendly and supportive. I believe my manager felt that I did good work. However, because I was on an internship, I felt my team intentionally gave me a project that had very little impact on the company.

My manager was very supportive and was very helpful when he had time. Unfortunately, he was only in the London office twice a week, and out of town the rest of the week.

Towards the end of the internship, I did not have much to do, as I only needed to make minor tweaks to my findings. I also had little to do when I was compiling code.

I felt I was pretty independent during my internship, as I was assigned a project for myself. Unfortunately, because I was on an internship, I felt my team intentionally gave me a project that had very little impact on the company.

I learned quite a bit about the working culture in a big, fincancial services industry. I also learned some general business knowledge and presentation skills. However, I felt that my job was very specialized, so I did not get to learn as much about other areas in the business as I would have liked.

My colleages were very fun, joking all the time. I feel they were the best part of my work experience.

It took the company one week to get me a computer with all the software I needed for my project. Other than that, I felt the overall work environment was well organized. I really appreciated the master classes and the networking events set up by the HR department.

The company had several master classes and networking events to give the interns a brief idea of what other areas of finance are available. I felt my manager spent quite a bit of time helping me learn all the concepts necessary for my job, but I don't know how consistent this level of training is.

The interns were quite friendly and easygoing. Unfortunately, I was in a different division than all of them, so I did not have as much opportunity to interact with them as I liked.

I cannot stress enough how exhorbitantly expensive London is. I felt like I had to tighten my purse strings quite a bit when I arrived in the city.

I'm sure the nightlife is alright in the area I worked, but I spent very little time socializing at night, since I am not much of a night life person.

I come home fairly late becasue I get out around 6-6:30 PM and it takes ~45 minutes to commute home. By the time I arrive home, it is often too late to do an activity, so I relax and watch the tele.