Alternative Investments Summer Intern Review

Absolutely loved it. The whole experience was amazing from the induction training all the way through to the final intern events. My colleagues within the team gave me real responsibility and treated me as though I was a full time employee. I thoroughly enjoyed the desk I was sitting on, as the work was complex but fascinating.

I was sat on a desk within a lean deal team at a time of intense workload, yet each individual found the time to ensure I was never idle and I always felt as though I was progressing and assisting the them. The longer hours were made up for by the social side of the team as they would invite me out to celebrate the execution of deals and significant events during the summer.

My manager was outstanding. She was always supportive and gave concise clear and direct feedback when I required it most.

I felt as though I had significantly more workload than many of my intern peers. This was the nature of the desk I was sitting on and at times it could become stressful. I expected this in finance though and thoroughly enjoyed it, as I believe I learnt the most at these times.

Due to the lean deal team and the unusually high deal flow over the summer period (normally it should be quite quite over summer), I had to undertake tasks that were critical to deals and thus was given the responsibility as if I were a full time employee. I wouldn't have enjoyed my summer if I had been doing tasks that did not matter for the team.

I learnt how to balance my time significantly better and be productive even when tired. I also learnt that knowledge is key and being constantly aware of what is going on in markets is fundamental to being a successful investor, even in private markets!

The atmosphere was always that of a sociable but hardworking environment. People were always open to conversation when it was appropriate but also when there was significant time pressure it was okay to put headphones in and focus on your own work. I also felt that although the hours were long the late nights were thoroughly enjoyable as we had dinners together, which made it feel significantly more friendly. Also when deals were completed we would celebrate with the team, these were fantastic and some of the best nights out, although working the next day was much harder!

I believe the work placement was set up very well overall, however, within the Alternative investments division it was exceptional. This is because we had many more training sessions focusing on private markets, hedge fund strategies and areas of BlackRock that other interns didn't have exposure to.

Personally having done finance and economics at university I found the training days quite basic. This was due to all the interns having to reach a certain level of financial knowledge within non-financial divisions i.e. technology. Therefore, I believe there should have been more in-depth and complex training sessions for the investment teams before we hit the desks, such as advanced excel. The firm generally invests a lot of time and effort into the intern pool. This definitely comes from the culture of the firm.

I was given the full-time offer and will be taking the position.

There was a large class of interns and thus is meant socialising was very easy. The only drawback was the difference in working hours. The public markets teams would be in earlier and leave earlier, whilst alternatives would work much later. This still didn't make too much of a difference as everyone was very sociable and I will keep in contact many.

It is based in the city of London... It was expensive.

Great nightlife, fantastic bars and some quality nights out with the interns/team, although as I said above, expensive.

We did charity days and portfolio challenges, which had to be done outside of working hours. This was great as it meant you met more interns/employees from different areas of the firm.