Research Assistant Review

The silence in the office and the nature of the work were not to my preference.

Everyone is polite and friendly, but the very essence of the role is that you are there to do the menial data jobs that others do not want to do. You are also sometimes expected to drop everything for one person, or others often do not realise that you have lots of other work to do.

Management are there to answer questions to which they know the answers, or to try and provide some guidance on how to find out for yourself.

There were often time when there was far too little to do, but it was very difficult to be allowed leave, so I had to be at work just in case something came up. Other times it was incredibly busy, which could lead to some long hours. The worst times were when it was not busy, but you had to stay late just in case someone wanted you to do something.

I didn't feel that I had great deals of responsibility in the work i was doing, but it was often pressed upon me that the work was of great importance (which is why it was so hard to take leave). So although the work didn't feel important, pehaps it was, as I wasn't ever able to take a whole week off!

I developed very strong excel skills, as I use it every day and there are many courses available for improving knowledge. There is also a wide range of ways to improve your economic knowledge (if you have time) such as seminars, courses, the information centre and talking to analysts about their work. However, your ability to take this in may be hindered by being a division which covers work you've never studied before and/or will never study in the future. But, the 'work place skills' are definitely valuable, as you will always need these when working with others.

The silence is deafening. There is little/ not friendly chat and conversations are had in hushed tones.

We had a variety of training on offer and a crossover with the previous student.

The Bank was happy for me to attend courses and I even had a trip to Northern Ireland. So there was a lot of scope for learning.

I think that there is varying appeal across the Bank, and my decision not to return is based on my experience in my department.

There was opportunity to socialise, including lunches and nights out.

The cost to travel, buy lunch and socialise was what can be expected in the City of London.

Due to not living in London, and so having transport and cost issues, I wasn't always able to fully enjoy the nightlife myself. However, there is a lot of chocie in the area and surrounding areas.

There are volunteering schemes that you would expect, and there may have been other things that I was not aware of.