Spring Insight Week Review

The insight week program is very well planned - met lots of bright students both from universities in UK outside UK (Italy, Spain, even US!)

BAML really impressed me in the wide range of networking opportunities it provides for us! Business representatives were extremely approachable, friendly people.

The HR team was always around & I felt like I could just approach anyone in BAML if I have a question.

My degree is not finance/economic related, so the technical knowledge I learnt this week was very helpful if I were to apply to summer internship next year. My teamwork and presentation skills were also developed a great deal through various group activities.

The program was a good mix of fun and hardcore knowledge.

The general atmosphere was really good. Students were contributing a lot/very proactive, and speakers were mostly engaging.

It really depends on how much you make out of it, really. BAML provides all these workshops and opportunities to interact with business reps, but ultimately personal development only happens if you actually use these opportunities and ask for feedback. I particularly enjoyed the presentation skill workshop by a comedian.

Lots of business reps went through the entire process of internship to rotation to full time, so talking to them helped me to understand the life of an intern as well as a full time employee. Also, I realised that within the bank, lifestyle varies quite a lot from division to division, so making an informed decision about division is very important.

The company culture is effusive throughout the program - you could really feel the friendliness around the bank. (Also the efficiency during case study session). And speakers at panels also talk about their personal experiences in terms of company culture, and why they switched from other banks to BAML.

Well, the picture of life in a bank BAML paints was quite a rosy one. But from news you know that working in a bank entails lots of struggles behind all the glamour. So I would need more objective information to decide on my future career path. But this programme definitely gave me a glimpse into what a career in banking is like in general.

Accommodation, lunch and travel were reimbursed. The accommodation was at Stratford, a little bit far (30 minutes to King Edward Office) but the room was really good! There was a 3-course dinner on Thursday as well, which effectively got everyone through the dreadful presentation assessment. (most of which turned out to be fine)

Like I've mentioned before, there were so many! (Drinks, breakfast, lunch, dinner… ) I did another Spring Week in another bank, and we only got to meet graduate (1~2 years on the desk). But in BAML, it's easy to speak to someone who had worked here for 10+ years. And most of them talk through what they do patiently, which I really appreciate.

You can really get an in-depth conversation with those business reps. From the very first day, networking was an integral part of the program. Though sometimes the networking place may get very crowed hence noisy, I did made some useful contacts from the week.

Most conversations were centred around the day-to-day work they do, but I did find out from presentations about corporate social responsibility that BAML has engaged itself in, and an impressive amount of hours that BAML employees complete each year. I value charity work a great deal, so knowing about BAML's commitment in CSR makes me like the bank more.

Great program! Definitely recommend. Most students who have been to other programmes expressed their preference of BAML's spring week over others. The program was really very well-planned.