Corporate Banking Intern Review

A lot. Gained a real insight into the role of the bank and was given a lot of responsibility.

My work was appreciated and they made a real effort to ensure the work I did had a mutual benefit both for them and me where I was equally learning a lot.

It was emphasised to me fairly early on that there wasn't such thing as too many questions or stupid questions. I felt everyone was approachable if I was ever stuck or confused. The managers emphasised that it was very much an open door policy and if there was anything that was bothering me I should raise it with them without any hesitation.

There were days I didn't have anything to do but I would always go around the office to actively ask and was always given something. Nothing is given to you on a plate. As a result, I was kept busy for the duration of the internship, with a variety of work and a lot of learning oppurtunities.

A lot, I quite quickly was doing very high impact and important work with high profile clients

I've learnt a lot about the industry as well as my profficiency in using some software icnluding Excel which is something I can carry forward into any career and university.

I worked with a small team of 20 and so the feel of the team was very close knit and I quite quickly developed a personal relationship with most of the relationship directors and managers. Additionally, if I was ever uncomfortable or confused about anything I felt the whole team was very approachable especially the managers.

As the internship is fairly new, where it only started up a few years ago, I felt there wasn’t a proper structure. However this worked in my favour as I therefore had the flexibility to get what I wanted out of it. For example, I was able to pick and choose what exactly I wanted to learn and was able to organise some unofficial rotations in other parts of the bank also.

I did some training courses at the beginning of the internship to get an idea for some basic financial knowledge. There is an online portal with every kind of financial course, so there’s a lot of variety and scope in what you can learn. Although I found that I learnt a lot more on the job and hence wasn’t too involved in other courses that they offered.

The graduate offer involves four 6 month rotations in terms of departments and geographically. Although I see that the purpose of this is give you as much exposure into the different areas of the bank with the hope that you would eventually fall into an area that matches your interest and skills best, it’s a little off-putting when it comes to the uncertainty about where and what area you could potentially be working in,

I felt the internship didn’t make more of an effort to ensure interns socialised. In London, there are at least 5 offices and amongst these offices the intern class is split into various offices in various departments so it is hard to meet anyone on the scheme. Although the CSR scheme that we were completing alongside our internship did help and I was able to enjoy some nights out with the interns which is organised outside of the programme.

I was living at home so did not have to pay rent, however from speaking to other interns I understand that rents could be quite a hefty amount of the pay for those that didn’t live in London. Drinks on a night out usually were paid for by the company, but nights out were quite expensive as is the norm in London.

I worked in Mayfair, next to Mahiki so was always in a good area to enjoy the nightlife. However this wasn’t the ideal place to enjoy the night life as a student considering the cost. However with the tube links everything was always in close proximity. Bars in the area were also always good fun.

The CSR project which involved planning and hosting a Charity Quiz for the British Heart Foundation was an activity that kept my group busy during the internship. This was stressful but a lot of fun, the end result was worth all the hard work. Additionally, there was always networking events with a tab that you could enjoy after work. Friday’s used to end with a 3:30pm finish and drinks at the pub downstairs.