Intern Review

Overall it was very good, with plenty of sessions run by the business to keep you engaged and simulate the responsibilities of the actual job. The fact that there were two rotations also meant tthat the work stayed varied and interesting throughout the duration of the internship.

They were always willing to explain their work and what was happening to their markets on any day. They were also a good source of information if I had any general questions or needed any advice. Particularly on the second rotation, I was given a task to complete that the desk were then going to implement, giving me responsibility over its delivery which helped me feel valued.

I was always able to go to them with any questions or concerns that I may have had. Aside from the two business managers I had on my 2 rotations, I was also able to talk freely with the rest of the desk in their absence. There is also a buddy (a recent graduate) and mentor (more senior business member) who were both invaluable as they would always give unbiased guidance and thoughts on the business and advice towards career progression.

It varied quite a lot depending on whether the team were particularly busy on any particular day. On the first 4 week rotation, several of the team went on 2 week holiday leave, and as a result the remaining members couldn't set any projects or tasks for me frequently. The second rotation was better in that regard. There were several events/activities put on to keep us occupied and engaged nonetheless though, with guest speakers and a trading game for example.

On my first trading desk, my main responsibility was restricted to the last week - you are limited by not being FCA certified. Then I got to do a short project on data retrieval. I got more responsibility on my second desk were my whole project that would be implemented by the desk took 4 weeks.

I was able to gain insight into the markets, which is extremely useful as I come from a STEM subject background. I also learnt how to code in VBA which will hopefully bring transferable programming skills to other applications. Finally, you gain valuable experience and learn how to network, meet deadlines and deliver projects. The presentation at the end of the internship is good practice too.

The trading floor was fairly quiet in the summer due to a lack of flow, but the people in the office were always positive and happy to talk if they weren't immediately busy. Most people were very friendly and had a lot of patience too, and the structure was very flat, making it easy to meet and talk to senior business members

For the most part it was very good, there was always decent communication from HR about the intern's calendar. However, my first desk were away on holiday for large parts of the 4 weeks I spent there making my time there fairly unstructured and frustrating at times. My second rotation was much more organised however.

They provided interns with a week of training in both soft and hard skills. They also gave you the chance to mete plenty of both senior and junior members of the business. Many different events inlcuding weekly market summary sessions and trading game meetings were implemented to engage interns, as well as a less frequent speaker series with excellent speakers

It is an enjoyable environment to be in, and with a flat structure and recently reduced headcount it is easy to get a lot of responsibility early on your career and develop quite quickly. There are several people performing well having only been in the business for 5-6 years for example, and there is a good chance of fast growth

Between the interns in the FRC division there was a good level of interaction with everyone getting to know each other very well and being happy to spend a lot of time with each other outside of work too. After our initial training week it was difficult to continue to socialise and meet those from other areas of the business however as we were based in different buildings.

I was able to commute from home, which proved cheaper than living in the area but was still costly. Socialising was expensive, but not particular more so than other areas of London.

There was plenty of bars and clubs very close by. The offices were situated near Liverpool Street station which meant it was both very close to Shoreditch and the city, so there was plenty of variety. However, given early starts and sometimes quite late finishes it is hard to justify going out very often.

No, work hours tended to dominate, and when you did have time in the evening you would tend to socialise. The lack of a work gym also meant it was very difficult to stay fit/do exercise outside of weekends.