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
I thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience from start to finish. I actually really enjoyed coming into work every day. Some days were slow and not very interesting but that was to be expected - every day can't be amazing. But overall, it was quite an outstanding internship.
Every person that I talked to in the office was extremely friendly and approachable. I met quite a few people during the internship and it was very nice to have more and more friendly faces coming into work everyday.
My manager was really amazing - extremely helpful right from day one. Any problems that I had were solved really quickly and he was always available if I needed any help in any sort of way. I couldn't have asked for anything better!
The work load was something that challenged me quite a lot but that was exactly what I was looking - something that could stretch my abilities and help me to learn as much as possible. There were some days that were really quite difficult because of the work load but that wasn't a big problem as I always managed to overcome it.
I was given my own project with the option of guidance from people in my team and of course my manager, This represented such a good way to learn how everything works at the company and to be given my own project as an intern was something amazing. To have that kind of ownership is something that is important to me and motivated me greatly to do a good job.
I feel that I've improved in so many ways. In particular my presentation skills were something that I feel were improved quite a lot. I became more confident in speaking to people too and there was also quite a lot of constructive criticism on how I could improve. All of these things add up to quite a few skills that I can definitely use in the remainder of my degree.
The Company
The atmosphere in the office was what I expected. Quite quite most of the time and very relaxed. I felt that I could approach people around the office quite easily and I could move around quite freely. It was an open plan office so sometimes the noise levels increased but this was to be expected.
The internship was on the whole extremely well organised. It wasn't absolutely perfect though, I feel that some of the events that were organised for interns could have been a bit more well organised but apart from that it was quite a seamless experience overall.
There was a lot of investment in training and development. At the start of the internship there was a one week training week to get us accustomed to the banking industry in general and to learn some soft skills like personal development. During the internship training was often on the job however there was access to an online training system where employees can learn from a large bank of learning materials.
Subsidised Canteen
Company Parties/Events
Working from home
They offered me a place on the graduate scheme!
The Culture
The social scene was pretty lively I have to say. I was quite friendly with all of the other interns in the building that I was working in as well as the wider group of interns. There were quite a few opportunities to socialise with the other interns when we went out for drinks after work or went for lunch.
The cost was pretty reasonable. Going out for lunch everyday was something that I don't usually do but I quickly got used to it and it became quite an enjoyable experience to try all the food in the area.
During the internship, I didn't go to any clubs but we did go to quite a few of the pubs in the area for some general socialising. I live in Glasgow so I know the nightlife pretty well and I can say that it's quite good, definitely not lacking in the places to go.
Plenty of opportunities. The company set up a few social events for all of the interns which were all really enjoyable. We also got together quite a lot after work for some casual drinks too. There were also some volunteering opportunities that we could get involved with if we wanted to.
Details
Internship (1 Month+)
Banking
Scotland
September 2014