
This review was submitted over 4 years ago, so some of the information it contains may no longer be relevant.
Rating
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The Role
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The Company
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The Culture
- 1. To what extent did you enjoy your work placement or internship?
- 2. To what extent did you feel valued by your colleagues?
- 3. To what extent were you given support and guidance by management/your supervisor(s)?
- 4. How busy were you on a daily basis?
- 5. How much responsibility were you given during your placement?
- 6. To what extent did/will the skills you developed, and training you received, assist you in your degree studies and beyond?
- 7. What was the general atmosphere in your office?
- 8. How well organised was the overall work placement or internship set up?
- 9. In terms of personal training and development, to what extent did the company or firm invest in you?
- 10. What were the perks on your work placement?
- 11. How appealing are future employment prospects within the organisation?
- 12. Was there a good social scene amongst any fellow placement Î÷¹ÏÊÓÆµs/colleagues?
- 13. What was the cost of living and socialising in the area you worked in?
- 14. What was the Nightlife like in the area you worked?
- 15. Were there many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work?
The Role
It had it's pros or cons, I really enjoyed the events organised by HR and my LOB, great opportunity to network whilst having fun. However, at times the work you receive will not always be enjoyable. Generally, the environment around you made the internship enjoyable.
Obviously moving into a new environment with new people may be a problem for some. However your colleagues value you as an asset and person and will be very friendly with you and would want to know more about you and professionally bond with you. However, you may be sitting at desks where members from other teams are also sitting and for me I had to go out of my own way (bonding) in order to valued by them.
The support given by my manager and other members of my team was excellent. Whenever you didn't fully understand a task or know how to do it, you are more then welcomed to seek help, and they would go out of their way to help you. Also outside of work they would give you excellent guidance i.e. career path, changing LOB's.
It really depends on the amount of work you get, some days could be 9am-5pm, where as others were 8am-8pm. When we were working on a big project which lasted two weeks I was starting early and finishing very late. In comparison on the days I finished all my tasks early and no further work to do after 5pm I went home. In general I worked from 9am -6:30pm, but again it depended on the amount of work they gave me. Additionally, during the summer internship the last couple of weeks was the 'holiday season' for everyone , so many of my team members were off, this decreased the work load.
I was given to an extent the responsibility of a full time employee who's been working here for a while. This is in terms of managing my time, attending meetings and completing tasks. I was rarely given urgent, deadline associated tasks to do, but in terms of the daily tasks I was given, I was fully responsible for them; This included emailing , phoning and maintaining files which I reported back to my manager.
I developed in all areas I believe during the internship, this included my communication skills and knowledge about the financial industry. Before the internship I had no idea about the environment, finance and the work. However, right now I could comfortably say I know a lot more about industry, almost the same amount as other interns who actually studied economics/ finance . I believe all the skills I obtained here would allow me to easily adapt to other places. On a side note one of the valuable things you can take away from the internship is getting used to the timings/schedule I.e. getting used to 9-5 (depending on your day). Coming straight from university will make it hard at first, however after a few weeks you get used to it.
The Company
Very good atmosphere, everyone was friendly and easy to get along with
No real structure to the internship, apart form setting your own objectives. Objectives and other events were just given along the way I.e. make a presentation
The firm will invest a lot in you, not so much during the internship but if you get onto the graduate scheme they do i.e. professional qualification and rotations
Company Parties/Events
Healthcare/Dental
It is very appealing, in terms of structure and progressions, also mobility within the firm i.e. switching LOB's and locations
The Culture
The social scene was very good, my colleagues arranged socials and also with placement Î÷¹ÏÊÓÆµs, they would also organise many socials.
Very expensive, this is normally associated with London though, however they do give you an allowance for relocation (1k in 2016). Also the general cost of living i.e. lunch ,drinks are also very expensive.
Really good, from dusk till dawn there would be something to do, form Monday to Sunday I would always have many options in terms of going out,
Not too many, but the ones they did was very good. There was a corporate responsibility day in which every intern does charitable work and it was very enjoyable and rewarding.
Details
Internship (1 Month+)
Investment Banking
London
August 2016