Client Margins Analyst - UBS Review

I spent the most fantastic year in New York on the Mountbatten Institute's work and study placement during 2013-14. In addition to being placed in a major investment bank (UBS) as a Client Margins Analyst, I thoroughly enjoyed living just across the Hudson River in Newport, Jersey City, with the other Mountbatten Interns, as well as experiencing that everything New York City and the USA had to offer. I volunteered in the local community on a regular basis, attend multiple events and functions in New York as part of Mountbatten and enjoyed travelling the USA and seeing the sights during my vacations and free time. It truly was an unforgettable year.

My team at UBS were great. My area of work (Exchange Margins) comprised a team of around 18, which was subdivided into sections, so I worked with a core team of five or six other people. I got on really well with my core team and everyone else in the wider group and felt instantly accepted. Whilst it was difficult at the start to settle into the role (as I had never worked in finance before), I soon gained the ability to contribute to the team's workload and begin solving problems on my own. My manager and colleagues were all very supportive and they were great fun to socialise with after work (and on a fishing trip off Brooklyn!).

My direct line manager and overall team manager were both very supportive and always went out of their way to assist me with my daily tasks if I requested help. I was expected to be independent and solve problems/work with clients on my own, but the support network was always there if I needed it. My team manager also went out of his way at the end of my placement to recommend me for a job with the company once I returned to the UK, which was a huge help in enabling me to secure a permanent role with UBS in London in September 2014.

I started my placement initially without much of a workload, as being new to finance, my colleagues quite rightly were cautious in giving me tasks to do without supervision. I spent the first few weeks reading up on procedures and getting used to the financial environment. Whilst things were a little slow at the start, they soon picked up and within a couple of months, I had a full workload, which included daily tasks, managing my own clients, booking the group's foreign exchange transactions every day and assisting with myriad queries from clients and colleagues that would come in at any time. Once I had settled into my role, my working day usually lasted from around 8:30am-6:00pm. I was always very busy during that time, although we all looked out for each other to ensure that no-one became overworked.

After the initial lag period at the beginning of my placement, when I was still learning the ropes, my responsibilities increased significantly, especially given that I was always learning new processes and tasks which had to be executed daily or whenever clients called. My role required a steep learning curve, but I ensured that I worked hard to learn as much as possible, so that by the beginning of the second half of my placement, I felt that I was fully valued by colleagues and clients, to the extent that they would request my assistance regularly in solving problems and dealing with their accounts - quite an achievement considering that I had never worked in finance before!

The skills that I was able to develop during my placement proved invaluable to me. I have a background in Law, so it was a totally new experience for me to work in finance, but when I was offered the placement, I decided to give it my best. I trained in a previously unknown area of employment and thoroughly enjoyed the challenge that it brought. My successful work ethic and a great recommendation by my manager led to my being employed at UBS on a full-time basis once I returned to the UK. I also feel that I will be able to put my skills to good use outside the sphere of finance, should I decide to change careers in the future.

The atmosphere was always very friendly and although we were always busy as a team, it never felt overly stressful or unpleasant. My office was also in a great location, at the corner of 51st Street and Sixth Avenue in Manhattan (right opposite Radio City Music Hall), so there was always something going on outside, such as a movie being filmed, the NFL Draft taking place just across the street, the Rockefeller Christmas Tree being switched on or simply enjoying some food from one of the hundreds of street vendors around outside. It all made for a great experience.

My work placement was very well organised in that I worked with a great group of people and my workload grew steadily the more I learned. There wasn't that much for me to do when I first arrived and I was hired without very much notice, but once the placement got going, it was excellent. My boss ensured that there was always someone to teach my something new if necessary and encouraged my independence as much as possible, which made for a great balance during my work.

As with all employees at UBS, I was required to undertake regular online training courses, so I was always learning something new. I also had to complete a year's study for a Postgraduate Certificate in International Business Practice as part of the Mountbatten programme, which my work was very supportive of. I felt that I learned a huge amount during my year with UBS and was able to carry knowledge over when beginning my permanent role at UBS in London.

I am working for the same company now! UBS offered my a full-time job upon my return to the UK and I commenced working for them in London in September 2014. I am in a broadly similar role to the one I undertook in New York and it is great to be able to keep in contact with my old colleagues in the USA, whom I still work with closely.

There was a great social scene among the Mountbatten interns throughout the year. Although I didn't join in the weekly brunch events much with the large number of interns who attended regularly, my flatmates, friends and I ensured that we lived life to the full and enjoyed every minute of our year in New York, whether it be dancing to corny music in an 80s club in Manhattan, climbing up to the crown of the Statue of Liberty, enjoying lobster on City Island off The Bronx, ice skating in Central Park or just relaxing in Bryant Park on a warm evening. Every experience was memorable.

Being New York, it was expensive! However, as long as I was sensible, I was able to live very comfortably on the living allowance provided by Mountbatten and even managed to put a little aside every week to save up to go travelling after my placement ended. Mountbatten covered the rent for our apartments and we only had to contribute a little to bills, so the main expenses were groceries and socialising. If done sensibly though, it was very manageable.

Again, being New York, it was great! It is certainly true that New York is the City That Never Sleeps and there was always something to do. Every bar, club and restaurant you could ever want could be found somewhere in New York (Manhattan mostly, although the other four boroughs had their highlights too). I had a great time exploring not even a tiny fraction of them, but it still felt like a lot!

Yes, definitely. The Mountbatten Institute went out of its way to ensure that all of the interns had as enriching an experience as possible during their year. I knew that I wanted to volunteer in the local community during my placement, so I helped at a local Cub Scout Pack in Hoboken every week. I also volunteered as a marshal at the New York Marathon, attended numerous top social events in the city and represented Mountbatten at the Turkish Consulate and on Remembrance Day. Of course, I also used my vacations and the numerous public holidays to travel and embarked upon numerous trips around the USA - to New England, West Virginia, the Great Lakes, New Orleans and during my month's travelling at the end of the programme, a huge road trip across most of the country, culminating in a well-deserved trip to Hawaii! Whilst on the programme, I finished my quest to visit all 50 US states, which was an exhilarating experience.