International Banking Spring Intern Review

Very enjoyable insight into the work and culture of the M&IB arm of RBS.

In general, employees from both HR and the business were more than happy to take time to answer any questions that we had during the week.

The first two days of the programme assumed no prior knowledge of investment banking and consisted of training sessions designed to teach and train us to an appropriate level.

I didn't feel the skills used during the insight week were similar to those required for rigorous study at university.

There was a very clear structure to the week, with predefined and appropriate time slots for every activity.

The culture and values within RBS meant that the general atmosphere was always one of openness, friendliness and fun.

The first two days, in particular, were entirely focused around training sessions and information sessions that the bank had clearly invested in.

The opportunities to learn not only about the technical aspects of a role, but also about the personal and cultural values of the firm meant that this particular insight was more than evident.

Although only two of the five days were spent shadowing current employees, there were plenty of opportunities (talks, networking sessions etc) to learn about the cultural values that RBS hold.

Although I am yet to decide on my career path, it is certainly true that the insight week was useful in providing me as much information as possible in order to make an informed decision.

Not only were there opportunities to actually walk around the bank's offices and be introduced to employees, but there were also networking sessions to enable us to meet graduates and other members of the bank.

In the five-day insight week, RBS offered social and/or team-building events on three individual occasions, all of which provided a great opportunity to build networks and strengthen relationships with fellow interns.

In particular, the final day of the week involved a project which surrounded the bank's corporate social responsibility; through this, it was clear that charity and such opportunities are more than available when working for RBS.

Overall, this was a great insight experience and taught me so much more than I could ever have learnt by simply typing queries into Google.