HSBC First Year Summer Internship Review

It was great to meet other people with a like-minded approach to the world of work & opportunities.

I did not feel very valued by my colleagues, I was very much treated as a temporary member and thus not given some basic staff privileges which made my it more difficult to carry out the tasks I had hoped to.

My managers had never had an intern previously & this was clear. When I would ask for support and guidance, it was not always willingly given & was rarely offered. Having multiple supervisors made continuity difficult.

I was not busy enough, I would frequently offer to do tasks for my colleagues as I would have liked to been given more tasks.

I was given significant responsibility in my placement, however I would have liked to have been given more as I do not feel I was fully utilised during my placement.

The skills and training I received will assist me in my degree studies as they have shown how various parts of my degree are used in real life situations. I feel I have developed a good understanding of the financial services industry through this internship which I am certain will help me beyond university.

I laughed a lot on my placement however the general atmosphere was fairly negative, many of the other employees vocally displayed their dissatisfaction with certain aspects of their work from day 1 which dampened the positivity I initially arrived with.

Fairly poorly, the managers had had no training or information regarding having an intern and this was clear. My desk changed on a daily basis & communication was lacking.

The company did invest in me, the branch could have done more to. I wanted to complete additional qualifications however when I asked for help from a manager to know which activities I would need to complete to do so they were unresponsive, I feel I could have been more of an asset to the branch if this knowledge had been passed on to me.

The organisation is global and has many opportunities, however internal future employment prospects would only be appealing if they were in different departments of the bank.

This was the best part of the placement, I attended a event in the evening with my colleagues as well as making great friends both in branch & with fellow students as the firm organised several charity events in which we could socialise with other interns, I feel I have made friends for life from this internship & met more people from my own university also.

My branch was located in a shopping centre which allowed me to have a staff discount card for the shops & restaurants there which reduced the cost so this was fairly cheap.

The nightlife in the area I worked in is very student focused so was not great during the Summer months.

There were many opportunities, this was one of my favourite aspects of the internship.