This review was submitted over 4 years ago, so some of the information it contains may no longer be relevant.
Rating
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The Role
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The Company
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The Culture
- 1. To what extent did you enjoy your work placement or internship?
- 2. To what extent did you feel valued by your colleagues?
- 3. To what extent were you given support and guidance by management/your supervisor(s)?
- 4. How busy were you on a daily basis?
- 5. How much responsibility were you given during your placement?
- 6. To what extent did/will the skills you developed, and training you received, assist you in your degree studies and beyond?
- 7. What was the general atmosphere in your office?
- 8. How well organised was the overall work placement or internship set up?
- 9. In terms of personal training and development, to what extent did the company or firm invest in you?
- 10. What were the perks on your work placement?
- 11. How appealing are future employment prospects within the organisation?
- 12. Was there a good social scene amongst any fellow placement students/colleagues?
- 13. What was the cost of living and socialising in the area you worked in?
- 14. What was the Nightlife like in the area you worked?
- 15. Were there many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work?
The Role
My manager really went out of her way to make sure that this would be a valuable and rewarding experience for me, and her efforts were reflected through the variety of tasks that she and her colleagues had me complete: I was exposed to numerous functions within my team and learned a lot.
My team were friendly and inclusive; they invited me to team events with them throughout the summer, and showed a genuine interest in me as a person. I was pleasantly surprised at how many people took the time to chat with me and how freely people gave advice and/or offered help.
My manager left me to figure problems out on my own after being assigned a task, but he also made it very clear that she was available for support and advice if I needed it. I liked this balance struck between flexibility and support, and worked well under this arrangement.
There were only a few moments when I was bored due to a pause in my workflow, and the rest of the time was pretty busy, yet not too much.
I was definitely given more responsibility than I expected; one of the decks I mad were vetted minimally and directly used for an internal meeting - this made me realize how much trust my team placed in me in taking the responsibility of delivering my findings and discussing my personal insights.
Skills gained from the internship will definitely help in any finance-related role in the future, and can also be broadly applicable to other jobs within the corporate sector.
The Company
Great atmosphere - it can get pretty loud during the day but I enjoyed this as it always kept my energy levels high and made the day go by faster.
HR was pretty organized in general: for the most part there was also good communication between HR and the interns so that any change of plans or unexpected delays were manageable. In general it went pretty smoothly.
We had a whole week of training as well as some other trainings throughout the internship. HR also arranged for the interns to meet quite a few members of senior management. This was good to build networks. I met some great people during these events.
Subsidised/Company Gym
The job offered to some interns is a couple year contract with some rotations - I see this as an excellent opportunity to learn as much as possible within a short period of time before rolling off the graduate scheme into a permanent role in the bank.
The Culture
Some interns regularly got together; the social scene is definitely there if you seek it out.
London is expensive; I would recommend that you plan ahead. If you do so you should be fine.
Great nightlife and variety. Check online for the bets places to go and you will not be disappointed.
Some opportunities organised by the company. Great to use these to get to know people and build your network.
Details
Internship (1 Month+)
Information Technology, Computer Science
London
July 2014