Sales & Trading Summer Analyst Review

I very much enjoyed my internship with Citi. It was a great insight into the dynamics of the trading and sales floor and how the various asset classes work within the bank. The hours were quite long, and at times the job was very stressful since it was basically a 10 week job interview. It was the kind of internship where you got out of it what you put in, if you made an effort you could really learn a lot and people would be willing to help you, but if you didn't take the initiative it could pass by and no one would come after you trying to make you take advantage of the opportunity. There were several functions organised for the interns outside of work, but I was actually somewhat disappointed by how few there were and how poorly organised they were.

This was very desk dependent. On neither of my rotations did I feel like I would be sorely missed if I were to not show up for work, the desk would still function perfectly well without me. However on my first desk, despite the fact that I was not responsible for any vital functions, the members of the desk still made me feel valued by taking an interest in my training and making sure that I was learning as much as I could so that I would eventually be able to provide value to the desk. My second desk rotation was much less interested in my development and hardly paid any attention to me, however they were extremely busy so this was understandable.

In the first week we had a series of training lectures which were somewhat helpful. For the rest of the internship we were expected to learn by doing. In general managers and other people on the trading floor would be supportive and provide guidance if you asked for it, but they wouldn't normally offer it without being asked. And as for asking for help, often you would be turned away initially because they were too busy, but if you returned once things had quieted down they would normally be happy to help.

This varied substantially depending on the day and the desk. Obviously working in markets, workload is very dependent on current global events. So during the first part of my internship I was incredibly busy because my desk was very busy as the Greek debt crisis unfolded. However later in the internship as markets calmed down there were days that passed without much work as trading was subdued due to clients going off for summer vacations. However over the course of the internship we had tasks outside of our desk work, so whenever there was a quite day on the desk we could always find work to do.

I enjoyed the placement very much, the experience of being on the trading floor was great, however the work itself was not particularly stimulating as we were not given much responsibility. This is to be expected, given the nature of the work on the sales and trading floor as an intern I was not qualified or legally allowed to partake in much of the work that the full time role would include. Instead the placement was primarily job shadowing and various menial tasks such as coffee runs, lunch runs, etc. The type of work given during the internship is very desk dependent however and can vary substantially.

The work done on both my rotations definitely helped me develop strong multitasking skills and was a great experience in terms of learning how to work quickly and efficiently under pressure. Throughout the internship we were required to give many stock pitches and presentations, and through these activities I was able to develop my presentation skills and confidence. The experience of learning how to network and build a professional network will also be very valuable moving forward.

The atmosphere of the sales and trading floor was a very exciting one to experience. It was very loud with people shouting back and forth at each other and on the phone. It was a good mix of casual and formal, no one on the floor wore jackets or ties. People were very serious and focused while they were conducting business, but as soon as there was a lull they would be joking around and chatting about sports, etc. At times it could be a bit hostile, if people were very busy or having a bad day they would snap at you very easily, but for the most part would apologise later on once things had settle down. In general each day flew by because it was almost an extended adrenaline rush the whole time on the floor.

Overall the internship was very well organised. The first week was packed with training lectures and various informative talks. There were several social events throughout the internship organised for the interns with representatives from various asset classes that were helpful in terms of learning about different parts of the bank. We also had weekly stock pitches and trading games that were a good break from desk work and helpful in terms of developing other skills. The only negative was that at times there seemed to be a bit of a disconnect between HR and the desks that we were rotating on, they were not always on the same page.

Some training in the first week, however most of the learning was done on the job and was self driven.

Good, will be returning to a full time role after taking a year off to travel.

There was a very large group of interns which was nice as it meant that there were always a good group that was keen to go out. It was a great social scene, definitely a work hard play hard atmosphere. We wouldn't see much of each other during the week because of work, but every single friday and most saturdays of the internship we would get a group of interns together to go out. Had a lot of fun with the interns, and will definitely be staying in contact with many of them.

Very expensive cost of living, spend almost everything you make, which is saying something as they pay you quite well.

The nightlife around Canary wharf wasn't great, although there were a number of fun bars which served as great gathering places for the interns after work on Thursdays and Fridays. And then central london was only a short tube or uber ride away, and so we would normally start nights off at a bar near the office and then head somewhere central in London where the nightlife was great. Overall a fairly good location for nightlife.

There were some opportunities but the the long hours made the thought of anything other than sleep after work unappealing apart from on weekends.