Spring Insight Intern Review

I was challenged and learnt a lot, but was never pushed to a point that it was uncomfortable. There were no points that I was bored, and most of the people on the programme were very nice, and easy to work with.

The recruitment team at BAML is extensive and very involved. Employees are happy to give out business cards, respond to emails, and give out advice, even at a very senior level, and all employees that we met were well-briefed about the insight programme. Additionally, we were told many times how well we had done to reach this stage, and that they would like for us to stay.

There were a few bankers who were at many activities, so they became familiar faces to ask questions to. Additionally, networking events allowed us to meet other employees, who could give us their experiences and advice. HR were also brilliant in their organisation, so I never felt lost or confused about what was happening.

We developed skills such as public speaking, teamwork, and working under pressure, but the material we covered was financial, so for the most part, not directly related to our degrees.

HR did a brilliant job of organising us and the employees, and making sure everyone knew what was going on. We picked two divisions when we applied, and most of us were able to see our first choice division the day before our second choice, made our decision the day after that, and the final day was an assessment centre.

It was definitely a competitive environment, and some people had considerably more experience than others, but most people were lovely and really nice to talk to and work with. The employees themselves were also mainly really approachable and invested in working with us.

The focus wasn't so much personal development as letting us see the inner workings of the bank, but they did hire public speakers to teach us how to get better at that.

It is obviously difficult to, in the space of a week, pick a department that you want to work in and shadow someone for long enough to understand what their work is really like. However, we were given so many opportunities to network and the bankers were very open and honest about what their working lives are like, and we did get opportunities to shadow them and work through case studies.

This was mentioned continuously, and employees were forthcoming in sharing their experiences. It was also very easy to pick up on, just by getting to know the employees themselves. Additionally, we got to network with various representatives of equality, such as women's, LGBT and disability, which is something that BAML focus on heavily, and is really representative of the culture.

It confirmed to me that I definitely want to work in finance, and was helpful in showing me divisions that I do, and also do not, have an interest in working in. There were a lot of employees who had spent time in accountancy and consulting, so could talk through the differences between them and banking, which also helped me to build a better idea of what I want to do.

We were told which travelcard to buy and fully reimbursed

This was a key focus for BAML, so we had the opportunity to meet new people every day, and many were keen to stay in touch, and we were also able to see some of the bankers semi-regularly, which was nice.

Again, this was a key point - we had a networking dinner at the end of the week, and most mornings started with a networking breakfast and lunch was often a good opportunity to network too.

Many people spoke to us about societies (including knitting!) and charity events that BAML workers pride themselves on being involved in.

Anyone with a desire to work in banking, and is willing to work incredibly hard and work with people to make this happen, would really enjoy this programme.