Summer Intern Review

I really enjoyed my work placement at HSBC. The general atmosphere within the company makes it easy to communicate and interact with the employees at HSBC. Not only have I met some fantastic professionals within the HSBC network, but I have made some very good friends that I will continue to see after my internship finishes.

The employees at HSBC really value the input that Summer Interns are able to provide. In my first week within the branch, I was instantly involved with all the managers meetings. My one piece of advice to potential Interns though is that the more you engage with the organisation, the more you will be respected and valued. There will be opportunities in which you can voice your opinion and provide feedback to the organisation on how things are run. It is up to you to take these opportunities and to provide interesting insights. The more often that you do this, the more you will be valued as an Intern. Interns that don't actively engage with the employees and organisation will be subsequently less valued.

Managers can often be very busy and will struggle sometimes to have personal one to one meetings. This is something that has to be accepted. However, by being pro-active and booking in meetings with your line manager, you can ensure you are getting feedback on what you are doing. To get the most out of your internship, make sure you organise these meetings with your line manager.

It entirely depends from day to day. I have reviewed this question as five star, because it is essentially up to you how busy you want to be. In terms of mandatory requirements there will not be a lot asked of you. However it is up to you to get actively engaged with the staff at HSBC and seek out tasks to do.

Arrange meetings with people, volunteer to do tasks, ask you line manager for more duties. At the end of the day if you want it to be a quiet and relaxed internship, just sit at your desk and work on your assigned project. However if you want to prove yourself, be pro-active and seek out jobs. Trust me, this extra work does not go un-noticed by your manager. As an Intern you do have limited responsibility as you obviously can't carry out some of the tasks that are executed by the senior members of staff. However as discussed before, the more you voice your opinion and speak to the staff within HSBC, you will be valued and trusted enabling you to get more responsibility.

The learning opportunites within the bank were massive. I developed my technical knowledge through the online learning resources and developed my transferrable skills such as Leadership through delivering talks to all the staff at HSBC on morning meetings. The resources are there for you to learn at HSBC, but it is up to the individual whether they want to make the most of the learning opportunities or not.

Fantastic atmosphere at the Leeds City Branch. The team are fantastic and very welcoming.

I think the Internship could be set up slightly better as I think there will be more structured Internships on the market. However each Internship is what you make of it and rather than being told what you are doing, it is nice to have that autonomous environment where you can be your own manager.

HSBC are very willing to invest in their Interns as I really believe they want to grow and enhance young potential within the Bank.

Future employment prospects are very good. If you perform well on your internship, you will be offered a Graduate position for when you complete your final year of University. Therefore you can focus on the final year of degree, with the added confidence of being able to walk into a very well respected job straight out of University.

The socials that were held by the team at Leeds City Branch were fantastic. There is a good sense of staff involvement at each event. Why not take the opportunity to network with staff who you don't usually meet within the bank on a daily basis? It is very good fun and also good for future job prospects.

Leeds as a city is relatively cheap to live in. HSBC provide a very respectable wage that will more than cover your living expenses.

The nightlife is fantastic within Leeds and the staff at HSBC are always willing to go out for a drink.

HSBC provide Graduate Community Challenges for Interns to get involved in. These are very good opportunities to show the Bank how flexible you are and the fact that you are willing to help others. My GCC challenge involved working in Newcastle for a day in a Marie Curie shop. We had to compete against all the other Interns all over the UK. It was an extremely fun and engaging event that was good to get involved in.