Analyst Review

I enjoyed my internship quite a lot. BlackRock ran an excellent induction for the first 3 days and had great talks/events throughout the internship. Everyone I met was lovely and open to going for coffees, etc. I also got along really well with my fellow interns, which definitely adds to the experience. However, the division I was working for in particular seemed a bit disorganised and less friendly. There were also a lot of issues with getting us set up - we didn't have desks (we had to remote in from the hot desk area usually) and no permissions, which meant that it was difficult to get on with the work we should have been doing. Furthermore, the job role itself wasn't what I expected it to be, which was quite disheartening and frustrating at times.

As interns, it is difficult to feel like you are adding value to the division, as usually you are adding more work for your colleagues rather than less! It also depended very much on the colleague in particular, some were very open and friendly about answering questions, showing us how to do things, checking work, etc. However, my fellow interns and I felt that this was the minority of people. It didn't help that my division was very understaffed during the summer and that we weren't sitting with the team (there were no desks so we were sitting in the hot desk area), which meant that we never really formed a professional relationship with a lot of the team.

I would say that we were given a fair amount of support and guidance by management. They were quite busy usually, so it was difficult to approach them. We were also told not to, unless we'd asked everyone else from our team first. There seemed to be a lack of feedback, however the interns requested that we have bi-weekly formal feedback sessions. This helped, but we only started this halfway through the internship. In our last couple of weeks our managers were a lot more active in their approach with us, perhaps because my fellow interns and I had all expressed interest that we were interested in looking at other divisions.

This was very mixed. For the first four weeks we were not very busy at all. Our projects hadn't started (it was up to the project leaders to approach us before we could start the projects) and we didn't have a lot of the tech/client permissions to do any of the day-to-day work. Therefore those weeks were mainly shadowing colleagues and training sessions. However, halfway through the internship this changed. All of a sudden, all of our projects seemed to kick off and we also received our permissions, which meant that we could pick up tickets and help the team in dealing with client issues. This was fairly sustainable, until another division (which we were meant to only have one project with) also started giving us small work tasks. This led to issues not only for us (in terms of workload), but between our team and this other team (as there were disputes as to who should be allowed to give us work.) This was quite chaotic, especially in the last couple of weeks as I had four presentations to give on top of all of this.

I would say that we were given a good amount of responsibility. We were allowed to interact with clients via email, which is quite good. We were also given a lot of independence in how we managed our workload and time. This was a lot of responsibility, but one I welcomed very much.

I am studying economics and politics, so finance is loosely related, but not as much as I had originally thought or hoped it to be (especially with regards to economics). I think divisions that are more market-orientated do have more in common with my degree and it is through this that I have actually learned that I am interested in a more economics-based role. It was a good experience in that I learned a lot of the 'soft' skills required to be successful in the workplace. I have also widely increased my knowledge of finance and coding, which will be very useful for beyond my degree.

I think that BlackRock has a great atmosphere. The ethos of the company is one I admire very much. However, my division in particular seemed a little dull and cold. People seemed to either be very stressed or bored. Management didn't have much interaction with us either, so it felt quite disconnected (even though it was a very flat-level set-up.) It also didn't seem to be as friendly or 'fun' as other divisions. Of course, work isn't about having fun but it does make a difference if the atmosphere is open and friendly. Any day job can be dull at times and you need people you can occasionally joke with. I was very fortunate in that I was close to the other interns on my team, which made the atmosphere a lot better.

BlackRock overall are very organised with the interns. They were always supportive and I felt that we were in good hands. There was also the right balance between networking events, lunchtime talks, training sessions, etc. My division in particular was less so. They themselves referred to us as their "guinea pigs" as they were setting up the internship this year differently, as they were 'merging' with another team. This wasn't a very cohesive merger and there were also a lot of tech issues which meant that we couldn't do a lot for the first few weeks, before suddenly being given everything all at once. There were a lot of issues as to where we should sit, which they changed their mind about frequently. The first four weeks felt a lot like university, as we were given training sessions every day, often back to back and for a few hours. Once we could do the work, not many of the graduates who had to check our work wanted to check our work. In general, it was a lot of start and stop, a lot of trial and error.

We were given a lot of training, so in this respect BlackRock really invested in me. I also met with a lot of people, so I felt very fortunate that so many were willing to take time out of their day to tell me about their role in the company. I learned a lot through this. However, in terms of development I felt a bit lost. I didn't like the division I was in, partially due to a lot of logistical issues which became very frustrating, but mainly because towards the end of the internship I was really realising that this wasn't the sort of work I wanted to be doing. I approached HR about this, but there didn't seem to be a very clear way to progress from there (in terms of approaching other divisions). However, perhaps in the future the fact that I have done an internship at BlackRock will help, should I apply to another division.

This very much depends on if I can work with another division in the organisation and not the one I was working in over the summer. I liked BlackRock very much, I think that I could be very happy there, but I would like to be in a more market-orientated, client-facing role.

Yes, amongst the interns there was a great social scene. I think this was just luck, in that our intern class seemed to really get along. We went for dinners often, bars, etc. I have made lasting friends from interning at BlackRock this summer. Amongst the colleagues in my division there wasn't a great social scene. A couple of social events were organised by they were awkward and quite forced. However, I went out quite a lot with another division (because a lot of my friends from the internship were from that division) and the atmosphere with them was always great. So it depends!

I would say the cost of living and socialising was quite typical of central London costs. This wasn't cheap, but it is London!

In the area there isn't much nightlife, but BlackRock isn't far from Shoreditch where the nightlife is amazing!

Aside from social events, not really. I had hoped for more societies, sporting or otherwise.