Summer Analyst, Sales and Trading Review

I enjoyed it hugely and learnt a large amount in a very short space of time, on both the desks I rotated on. Whilst completing work for my team was the obvious priority, HR organised various different talks and networking events for us over the course of the 10 weeks which strengthened my knowledge in a variety of different asset classes all over the trading floor.

In general, I felt valued at all times. Most of the colleagues I worked with were willing to spend time with me, teaching me and setting me tasks (when they weren't too busy!). On the hole, the work I was given was useful for the team i.e. not mundane stuff that would be disregarded. My projects were directly impacting the work the team was undertaking, which made me feel important!

Wasn't given a huge amount of support by my managers on both desks I rotated on, however the more junior members of the team (analysts/associates) helped me out a lot more. Considering that these people were generally in charge of setting me work, I don't think this was a bad thing by any means.

It varied hugely - we had stock pitches and trading simulation presentations every Thursday and Friday, which generally meant that on these two days I was very busy, as was having to do these tasks as well as the work from my desk. A few days were not too busy however, and I used a couple of hours on each of these days to shadow different people.

A fair amount, considering I do not have a financial background and therefore came into this internship with relatively little knowledge. However, it was always my responsibility to gain responsibility (something I learnt more as time progressed and incorporated into my second rotation) - To get a team to like and trust me, I had to do the work first, by being friendly, doing slightly easier tasks accurately before they gave me anything meaningful. I think this was fair though - I couldn't expect to be given large projects without them knowing whether I was reliable or not.

I study maths, and there are very few financial maths modules in my particular course, so not hugely in my degree. On the other hand, I learnt a wide array of skills, from very technical aspects of trading, to improving my powerpoint and spreadsheet skills, to improving my networking abilities. Many of skills I learnt were therefore invaluable for life in general.

Dynamic and Intense - Was working on the trading floor, so this was expected (during market hours at least). I liked that managers would be sitting next to analysts on each different desk i.e. it was a very open structure, with the most junior in direct contact with the most senior.

Very well organised in general; was a week of training at the start which consisted mainly of talks from the different divisions, as well as sessions such as "how to read the FT," "how to use Bloomberg" etc. HR were in regular contact both with us, and with our managers to ensure that we were on track and were making progress.

Invested a lot of time in me through people explaining (often very basic) stuff to me - Many of the analysts in particular spent large chunks of their time each week listening to our trade ideas. Citi also made sure that we all had the relevant systems set up on our computers, as well as Bloomberg. There were no teething problems in this, and all was done very professionally.

Reasonably appealing - they have taken up to 80% of their interns in the past, conveying the feeling that the job is almost yours to lose, rather than yours to gain by fiercely competing with the other interns. I've enjoyed my time here and would want to work for the firm in the future.

There were intern drinks that we organised ourselves, as well as drinks most weeks with the team. Apart from this, there were no social activities in particular, although this was more than adequate, and allowed bonding with both other interns, and with members of my team.

Was in London, so costs were very high (although this was expected). Would add to this by saying that I was expecting Citi's canteen to be subsidised, but it was in fact the opposite - food was slightly more expensive from there than in the cafes around Canary Wharf, so I didn't really use the canteen.

Don't know, didn't go out clubbing at all during the internship. From what I've heard from others, nightlife wasn't the best in Canary Wharf itself, but obviously is very good more generally when you're living in London, so a short tube journey to the nightlife is fair to say.

We were initially told about various different sporting clubs Citi has, but I heard nothing else about that and didn't know where to look to find info (although admittedly I didn't really try to look into it very much). Other than that, we had a 'build-a-bike' charity event during one afternoon which was fun.