Economics graduate summer intern/research assistant Review
by Bank of England
This review was submitted over 4 years ago, so some of the information it contains may no longer be relevant.
Rating
-
The Role
4.4
-
The Company
3.7
-
The Culture
3.8
- 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 was lucky enough to be given an extremely interesting project on a topic closely related to the current work in my division. It required me to use some of the technical analytical skills I developed during my undergraduate degree and it was a fantastic opportunity to learn to use new software (Stata).
I felt that my project was useful to my division and my colleagues always enquired about it with interest. At the end of the internship I gave a seminar which was well attended and I got a lot of positive feedback afterwards which made me feel valued and part of the team.
I felt lucky to be given a lot of independence to shape the nature of my project and I had the confidence to do this because I was in constant discussion with my line manager about the expectations for the project and developments as it went along. Other members of the division also gave me support by offering advice and invaluable technical help with the econometric software.
The scope for the project was large and I always had a lot to do.
I was given a lot of responsibility to design the investigation, seek out data, liaise with the research assistants who were helping with data collection, interpret the results and organise meetings with members of staff from across the Bank to get advice on how to develop the investigation.
This internship was a fantastic opportunity to put into practice many of the topics and skills I learned during my undergraduate degree. Learning Stata was extremely useful and I will definitely use that in my master's study and in the workplace afterwards. I may chose a topic similar to my project for my master's dissertation.
The Company
The office was usually buzzing with activity. There are frequent bilateral meetings around the office and I found it a very stimulating environment in which to work.
We attended training on how to use the Bank's computers effectively and a day of presentation skills training. I felt I had a lot of on the job training from colleagues in my team as well.
Subsidised Canteen
Subsidised/Company Gym
I was on the postgraduate sponsorship programme and at the end of the internship I got confirmed funding for an economics master's degree and a permanent position at the Bank after that.
The Culture
It was a really nice group of about 14 interns. We had lunch together every day and went out once or twice a week as a group. We will definitely be staying in touch.
London can be an expensive place to socialise but I never felt I had to break the bank to have fun!
The interns were encouraged to socialise with each other and other Bank employees. I also socialised with people from my team.
Details
Internship (1 Month+)
London
September 2010
