Asset Management Review

The internship provided me with a wealth of experience and knowledge from a variety of areas. From my team members to senior directors of the bank, each allowed me to improve my understanding of working in a bank and the challenges it faces on a daily basis. I enjoyed my 10 weeks with RBS and am leaving with a positive outlook on the organization.

My colleagues were there to support me from the beginning and welcomed me into the team. Over my time on the team, my responsibilities grew as my colleagues recognized my skills and abilities in the workplace. While the learning curve was steep, the team gave me the time to learn and ensure that I understood what my responsibilities were. There were numerous occassions where a colleague came up to me and asked for my insight on a task and I felt that my views were valued.

My line manager consistently provided me with support and advice throughout the internship. There was a good understanding that as an intern I would not know about the specific role or what I would be expected to do, because of this I was given the time to learn and improve my skills at a good pace.

The workload changed on a weekly basis, one day would be packed with activity with another being fairly relaxed. As I was routintely involved with conference calls and meetings, there was a steady stream of new information coming which meant I was busy throughout the entire internship. My manager was clear that efficiency was what he expected, not for me to be there until late in the evening.

I was given an adequate amount of responsibility throughout the internship. I was included in all the important conferences and meetings and had the opportunity to speak and provide my own input. The work I was doing had a direct impact on what the team required. Overall I felt like I was treated as part of the team which made the overall experience a better one.

The key skills I utilized during the internship were communication, analytical and organizational. These are all skills that I will be taking with me to the future, as well as key areas to improve from my manager. I will be using them all in the future as being involved in the professional environment allowed me to better understand how to operate within a large organization.

The atmosphere was serious yet comfortable to be within. I was encouraged throughout the internship to actively further information about what I wanted to learn about from other members of the organization, this included a trip from Edinburgh to London to learn and further understand my role in the bank, as well as the roles of other team members.

The internship was well set up throughout. The comprehensive induction week involved both general information about the internship, technical training sessions and networking events. There were many more events throughout the internship that we were invited too, as well as mandatory training sessions. Lastly, the end of internship program event was a great way to wrap up the internship.

I felt that RBS invested heavily in all of the interns during the internship. We were constantly being offered additional training courses to take up, as well as comprehensive understanding of the on-going training available to current members of the organization. I felt valued by both the team as well as the early careers recruiters and it was evident that they wanted to make the experience a positive one.

Employment at RBS would be a positive thing for me. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and role I was in, and could see myself working in other roles in the bank. My only concern would be the uncertainty of where I would be placed for my graduate program, as getting a London job is not certain.

As many of the interns on my program were also temporarily relocating to Edinburgh for this internship, there was a lot of social activity throughout as we were all getting to know the city and RBS for the first time. I was invited to social events with my team including a team dinner, as well as a corporate client event where I was invited to network and meet people from the firm.

Edinburgh during the summer is slightly more expensive due to the Fringe Festival as well as other events that run throughout the summer months. However, the costs were noticeably lower when compared to living in London, and the cost of living was lower. Travel was not as expensive and the cost of going out to socialise was not as high, even at more upmarket bars.

The nightlife was good in Edinburgh. As the city is not as large as London, it was easy to get around to different clubs and bars. The range of nightlife was good, and appealed to all types of people. That included themed clubs, high end and the cheaper clubs for people to go too.

There were some opportunities outside of work that we were invited to. Significantly would be the invitation to sports events that RBS ran throughout the week, including football and running clubs. Other than that, there were no other significant invitations that we were given, as most events were related to our work or the internship.