Operations Intern Review

I enjoyed the experience as I felt like I learnt a lot of information that will be useful in my future career and current studies. I really enjoyed the social side to the job and feel like my confidence has grown.

I was given tasks which were of clear importance, so I felt that what I was doing was actually useful. My colleagues made me feel very welcome and I feel like I have made some good connections in my time here.

I had a 'buddy' who gave me excellent support throughout my time here. My manager was busy on occasions, which is expected. He did however often set aside time to go through my work and provide me with feedback. The support I have been given has been fundamental in what I have learnt during my internship.

The first two weeks of my internship were slow. I felt like the department was a little unprepared in that they hadn't come up with projects for me to work on before I started. After these two weeks, more work started to roll in, but there were still occasions where I struggled to find things to do. In a way I was thankful for this though, as it was a nice adjustment from university. I think if it'd been heavy too quickly I would have felt a little overwhelmed.

There wasn't necessarily responsibility to be had but I did feel like I added value to the team. I was given the sole responsibility for certain projects so felt trusted and valued because of this.

I feel like I have learnt a lot about the department and the way the bank functions as a whole. I have also had the chance to gain knowledge of the processes involved in the bank and financial knowledge. This will benefit my degree studies and beyond significantly.

The Bootle office is such a friendly environment. Everyone was very welcoming and jokes were made regularly. We often had music also playing in the office.

When I arrived I didn't really feel like there was a plan as such. The first two weeks I struggled to have things to do. Feedback was also quite difficult to get at times as my manager was so busy. Also, I was originally set up with a manager but he was never there and never really spoke to me. I was then adopted under another intern's manager, who was much better.

I didn't have training as such. There was a networking event set up for all of the interns at the start of the programme, but I received nothing after that. I was promised opportunities to be able to attend other offices and do Excel courses but nothing became of it.

A graduate job is pretty much guaranteed after the 10 weeks, unless you are completely hopeless and don't get a good reference from your manager.

Me and other interns and graduates went for lunch every day in the canteen together. We also went to the social club on a Friday often. We had nights out every week at least once. I also met up with them after work for meals out etc. In my team we went out for meals and for drinks too. The social scene at the Bootle office is really good and I would recommend everyone to push to get this location.

Luckily I was able to live with family so I saved a lot of money in my time there. Bootle is very cheap though, and so is Liverpool.

The nightlife in Liverpool is amazing. Nothing beats it.

I did some fundraising for Santander's partner charity a couple of times. There were graduate events organised like a mini-Olympics. Other than this I can't think of any other opportunities.