Summer Intern Review

The internship surroundings are top notch. The office is located on 440 Strand and during your time here you gain exposure to a variety of events, clients meetings and other enjoyable/beneficial activities. However, at times the work can be quite basic, varying greatly between the client groups. To increase enjoyment, make sure to obtain a greater understanding of the day-to-day work of the group before completing the objectives setting, as it will greatly determine the work you will do. Another point, to increase the variation and scope of the internship, is to seek a business development project to complete early on.

Throughout the business one thing that really stands out is the fact that people are very friendly. Of course it is up to oneself to go around and introduce yourself and build a network. People are generally very understanding of the workload you have, so do not be afraid to say no to work if you have too much. This will make them value you more than if you take on all the work, but fail to produce, especially taking into consideration the extremely high demands of our clients.

I felt at times that this was a bit lacking, however as I got to know my manager better I gained an understanding of how to approach him/her and what things they felt I should be able to handle myself. Make sure to build a network however, especially as your manager tends to be quite senior, meaning that they at times are very busy, and by knowing people within the bank you can be supported by them when necessary.

My department in particular was exceptionally busy this summer, due to a combination of a growing department, a load of staff on vacation, as well as several people leaving for other jobs within a short period of time. This meant that the hours were not 9-5, rather a minimum of 8.30 - 6/6.30, often longer. Also, there are a variety of activities not relating to your client group that takes up a heap of time and somehow they always tend be during the busiest of times.

I was not given an extreme amount of responsibility beyond actually being responsible for my own tasks. As I did not complete any project, besides the intern project, I did not have any areas where it was possible for me to be in charge. This is mainly due to the nature of the business, as it is not possible for an intern to complete a detailed report of a client they do not know, or be the lead in a client meeting.

To an extent I learned about things such as time management and planning. However, the lack of analytic tasks means that I have not furthered my knowledge within that area to a great extent. The only opportunity I had to properly develop within this area was during the intern project. Thus going forward, I do not feel that I have developed a skill set that will help me greatly within my degree.

My department is quite large, thus the interaction between different areas was quite minimal. However, people are friendly. The only thing I lacked was a degree of socialising outside of the office, for example, a drink after work or a department activity.

The structure of the programme was one of the better areas. Of course one at times felt a bit annoyed with having to leave the desk to attend an insight or listen to a call, however overall it was very good.

The programme began with several days of training and during the internship a variety of opportunities for development were given. However, the online courses were not very good.

We have yet to hear about receiving an offer or not. There is a focus within the organisation to refine the talent recruited via the graduate scheme and thus if one chooses to pursue a career at Coutts & Co the prospects are quite good.

Our group was unusually quite on the social front. The interns were all very social but due to various circumstances there was a lack of nighttime events. However there are several opportunities given to socialise and if one takes advantage of them there is a very good social scene.

The area, just by Trafalgar Square, is very expensive. However, there are definitely ways to cut costs if necessary, and one tends not to go out around the office, rather moving elsewhere.

The nightlife is pretty much non-existent around Strand, but there are a couple of good bars + you are not far away from areas with more variation.

Not to a great extent. If one plays, for example, cricket then there are opportunities, however overall the scope is quite limited.