Commercial Banking Review

I enjoyed some aspects of the internship because I was able to learn new skills on Excel and develop my general commercial awareness. This was useful because I had never done anything business related beforehand, so it gave me the chance to explore different areas.

I was routinely invited to team meetings and conference calls. In general, the atmosphere within the team was quite a positive one. I also spent most of my lunch times with my colleagues which enabled us to get to know each better, so I felt quite valued,

If I ever needed help, I had the knowledge that my manager would be there to support me. But, I would have to seek out the help if I ever got stuck. During the mid-placement review, I had the opportunity to discuss my development and in order to meet my targets, my manager offered me the relevant support e.g. shadowing different departments.

I was given big tasks to do and was given the chance to work through it at my own pace. This gave me a lot of flexibility so I could manage my own time. The times when I had finished my work and was waiting for my manager to give me the next task was the only opportunity where I felt a bit bored.

I was not given that much responsibility. The work I was doing was to locate prospects that the department may look into. I did not have very much opportunity to work with existing clients nor attend meetings with them. I would also have preferred to have a chance to do some presentations.

I gained a lot in terms of my communication skills as we also had to participate in the Charity Challenge which gave us a chance to escape work a little! This involved going into local businesses/emailing them to ask for raffle prize donations. This was also the first time I was in an office environment so learnt more about workplace etiquette.

There was a good balance between work and play. It was generally relaxed and everyone around me was very friendly. I expected it to be a bit more high-pressured. I enjoyed working within the team!

It was generally well organised in terms of the time scale from applying to finding out which department we were placed in. However when I received my initial email, I was told the wrong job title and was barely given any information about what the role would entail. If I had known the specific department I was working with, I could have had a chance to do some background reading about it.

We had the opportunity to attend webinars which gave us an introduction to banking. They were very helpful as they were interactive and included features where we were asked a question and we could vote for the correct one. There was also a Q&A element. Furthermore, if I wanted to shadow a team I was interested in, which was in a different city, the company paid for all my travel expenses.

It is appealing because it is clear that there is the opportunity to move around since it is a very big organisation. In that sense, it shows there is a large variety of roles available and the bank care for the employees and are willing to let you make a move if you want to. Also 75% of grad scheme places go to interns, so it is highly likely to be able to get a job within the organisation.

I wouldn't say there was as were all based in different areas within Birmingham

I was based in Birmingham, so it was fairly average.

I didn't engage with any of that.

We had the Charity Challenge for which we did a samosa sale, Guess the Name of the Bear, Prize Raffle and selling cricket tickets. Apart from this, we didn't have anything else.