Research Assistant for the External MPC Unit Review

I very much enjoyed my placement at the Bank. The atmosphere there is great, all staff are easily approachable and importantly the work I had a chance to be involved with was of great interest to me - I particularly liked how directly this worked linked to stance of monetary policy. More specific to my job, I enjoyed the broad range of topics covered in the various projects I worked on and greatly valued the insights of the economist with whom I worked.

My colleagues always appreciated my contribution and made me aware of that. I felt particularly valued when external MPC members acknowledged my contribution in their speeches.

Most placements at the Bank begin with a one month overlapping period between yourself and the outgoing placement student. This however was not the case for me. This didn't make a difference though as I found my team to be extremely approachable, offering guidance on both my role in the Unit as well as offering technical help. My manager also encouraged me to make the most of the training opportunities the Bank made available and suggested certain courses he thought to be particularly useful.

My workload varied whilst at the Bank. Whilst often I had what I'd class as an appropriate amount of work, I would occasionally get rather busy. This would often be around times where I had multiple data requests from analysts coinciding with monthly processes and/or long-term research. However I often found these periods of most interest as it allowed me to get involved in many seperate projects covering a broad area of the economy.

I was given a great deal of responsibility in my job. I was tasked with the write-up of our monthly policy discussion - the minutes of which I wrote and circulated to the external MPC members. I also co-authored a research article used for external publication.

The technical knowledge and soft skills I developed whilst at the Bank will be of great importance for both my University degree (particularly as I have now seen how some of the concepts I learnt about at Uni are applied) and for my future career.

The office itself was often quiet - partly a result of the small number working in it (nine). However many analysts preferred it this way as to allow them to concentrate better on their research. In social situations the team were very friendly and the atmosphere far greater.

The placement scheme was very well organised. The first week consisted of many training courses to get us up to speed on the various Bank systems and the type of work we were given was very interesting and thought-provoking.

All the training I requested I was given. This included two courses of general interest, one soft skills course and several ECDL and AECDL tests and courses.

They are certainly appealing - particularly the Postgraduate Internship and Sponsorship program which involves a six week summer placement at the Bank once graduating and if they like you they will sponsor you to complete a masters (a huge financial saving). Once completing the masters degree, you are then obliged to work for the Bank for two years. The slight risk to this scheme is that you must have a masters organised prior to the six week internship, which means if the Bank aren't prepared to sponsor you, you would have to bear a large financial cost.

There was a good social scene amongst my fellow placement students - I've definitely made some great friends out of this experience. We were however a relatively small group (around 12) which partially limited the extent of how often we could all meet (if a few pulled out, numbers began to get quite small).

London is expensive - but as with all cities, once you know where the best places for both the price and quality of the night, it's great.

Given I was right in the city centre around some cool bars with happy hours most evenings, I would say the nightlife was very good.

The Bank runs many sports teams at it's Sports Centre as well as other social groups.