Commercial banking internship Review

At time it was slow, but once the office got used to having me there and began taking me on meetings and involving me with there work it improved greatly. I felt like a learnt a lot in my time there and I enjoyed it.

Once they had got used to having me there they began to involve me a lot more, I ended up in positions where I was doing very important work for some of my colleagues and felt that I was truly a valued member of the team by the time I left.

My supervisor and one of the members of the grad scheme supported me throughout the process. They helped me find my feet in the office and supported me with finding work and involving myself within the team.

Whilst there was a lot of work it came in dribs and drabs and so there were often large periods of time where I felt like there wasn't much to do. However I spoke to my supervisor about this and she supported me to try and find more work meaning that towards the end of the placement I was actually quite busy.

Towards the end of the placement I was given a lot more responsibility with work, I was left to work on quite large projects and was trusted by the team to complete these to a high standard on my own. It did, however, take some time to gain this trust and be given the responsibility.

Having had no experience in the financial world before, and doing a degree that doesn't involve finance I felt like I learnt a lot during my time here that will help me with whatever career path I choose in the future.

The office was often quite empty as people would be out on meetings. However everyone was friendly and helpful, I knew if I had any problems or issues with the work I could ask anyone and they would help me. I was also invited on an office social towards the end of my placement and it was great fun. The overall atmosphere of the office and the team was friendly and open, it was a pleasant place to work.

I feel like they weren't particularly ready for me when I first started the internship and this often caused me to be left on my own with not much work. However this did improve in time and the experience certainly picked up after some time.

I didn't receive any specific training or development during my time at HSBC, I felt like it was more an ongoing thing throughout. Regular meetings with my supervisor allowed me to review my work and receive some constructive criticism to improve my work in the future.

The graduate scheme looks really interesting, the idea of being able to move round and see lots of different parts of HSBC is really appealing and I am definitely considering this as a future career option.

There were weekly drinks with the other placement students, this was a great opportunity to catch up on how other people were doing and to share problems we were facing and discuss solutions. As well as this there was also the charity work which was great fun and a great chance to socialise with fellow placement students and current grad scheme students. There was also a staff social at the end of my time in HSBC, this was great fun.

London is by nature expensive, however HSBC does add territorial allowance to it's pay to help with this extra financial pressure.

Canary wharf is an incredibly social area, there are many bars and pubs all over the surrounding area and canary wharf also put on fun events on the green in the center including concerts and lunchtime entertainment.

There was an office football team, however this was all male and so it was not an option for me to get involved with this. There was opportunities to do more charity work with the graduate charity committee.