Summer Analyst Review

Overall my internship experience was positive, mostly because of the supportive and welcoming people around me. Also, in comparison to other internships I have done in the past, I felt like I was making a genuine contribution to the teams I worked with here - which also brought along quite some pressure and stress from time to time. I also feel that I was given the opportunity to really see whether I can imagine working in this environment and industry, as I did almost the same things as full-time first year analysts would do.

In both teams I worked with I felt valued, although one team saw me more like a "summer" who was here to help out wherever necessary, and in the other team I was replacing the only analyst for the time being as she was on holiday. Therefore I got different responses from the team, the first one was always very thankful when I helped them out with a task, the other saw it more as a given - which in the end is the more fitting attitude as, among other things, I wanted to get a view of how things would be around here as a full-term analyst.

When I was to complete specific task I was mostly given a broader overview to bring across the bigger picture, however, within the team we hardly ever discussed more career and less work-related aspects. This was mostly balanced out by being assigned a mentor and also having regular human capital management office hours who helped out with topics like these. We also had two reviews, one after the first rotation, and then a final one in the last week, after the second rotation, which provided feedback from the people one worked with.

Most of the time I was quite busy, however the workload was not very balanced. Sometimes I saw myself confronted with relatively quiet times I could have used more effectively and sometimes there was so much to do that I did not know where to begin. It was especially stressful when one was supposed to go to one of the many obligatory, interesting intern-events but at the same time was expected to deliver a piece of work within the deadline. However, all in all, I would rather be to busy than have nothing to do, and the time flew by.

In the first team I worked with the interns' work would always be checked, in the second team the environment was more fast-paced so people would mostly only check work on-the-go and not as thoroughly. However, I believe this was also a result of always clearing up any uncertain points, so people could rely on the information provided in the end. All in all I would say that, next to the team one is placed with, it depends very much on the intern's attitude how much responsibility one is given.

While I don't think it will help me greatly on details in my studies I do believe that I now have a broader view and am more able to place certain topics in a better context. I expected that my business English skills would improve greatly, and while they certainly did improve, it was not to the extent expected as I was both times placed with teams speaking my mother tongue, working on my home region. Lastly, on the personal skill side I believe that I have learned quite a bit, now being able to manage my time more efficiently if necessary and really finding out what matters to me most, where I should put my focus on in my leisure time.

During my internship I worked on two different floors, one was very quiet, almost like a library, where the team was sitting rather far apart and therefore had little social interaction during working hours. The other floor was more busy with the team sitting close together and we had little chats throughout the day. Almost all of the people on each floor were very helpful and always made time to discuss ideas or any problems one might come across, however, in general I would have wished for a little more interaction.

The Human Capital Management team did a great job organising the internship and seem to be keen on improving it every year. Some minor points that stood out to me that could be improved are: Firstly, I would have appreciated a little more help with resettling, for instance when searching for accommodation and second, some information was given quite last minute. Lastly, we had quite a few obligatory sessions which were sometimes hard to fit into one's timetable, with the team expecting one to be working full-time. But all in all I must say that a great structure was offered for our time here.

I think the work done in the Investment Banking industry is quite interesting, and this firm surely is one of the top players in this field. If you can work efficiently in a high-pressure, fast-paced environment and are interested in the financial industry you should go for it. If you are not completely sure or hesitant about some aspects I would really think about taking this job - as a result of working long hours you will not have a lot of time to actively think about your career, so if you do not have somewhat of a structure yet, life might just throw you around and you will most likely not be happy with the outcome.

Yes, everyone got along very well. People were friendly, open and showed genuine interest in each other. We often went out together on our weekends or would just meet throughout the week to grab lunch or dinner together. It was always great fun to have intern sessions, because next to hearing from some quite senior people within the firm you could share your current thoughts, concerns, and general ups and downs with the other interns and would feel very supported by them.

I did my internship in London which is a very expensive city, even more so in the city centre, where I happened to work. Most of us lived a few tube stations away towards east London as it is more affordable. However, if you look around it is possible to find some relatively low cost or even free activities to engage in, may it only be going to the canteen together. Also, there were quite a few intern networking events where drinks, snacks and sometimes even lunch or dinner were provided.

Although I did not notice any night clubs in the immediate surroundings of the office and we always went to other parts of the city, there still is quite some nightlife. There are many bars around, serving drinks until late in the night, and you are bound to meet fellow interns or work colleagues there, especially because throughout the summer most departments have (bi-)weekly drinks. Also, you might get to know a completely new group of people who are working in a related field, as there are many other offices in the area.

There were many opportunities but sadly not enough time to exploit them all. The firm offers many different Affinity networks and interest networks, which meet more or less regularly. Additionally we had a firm-sponsored day of community teamwork, where we got to clean up the environment while meeting fellow interns from other divisions. There is also a gym in the building we worked in, which most people subscribed to and used during the not so busy times of the day.