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I enjoyed my internship quite a lot. The events during the internship were thoughtfully organized, the projects challenging but interesting at the same time, the work demanding but not over-burdening, and generally J.P. Morgan gave me a very good impression. Contrary to what a lot of people (including me before this internship) believed, the trading floor is much more relaxed than I expected and the atmosphere is much more friendly and laid-back, even when it is busy.

The team was great and my colleagues were very supportive. From Day 1 they treated me as a full member of the team and guided me on all the projects I was supposed to undertake. They value my input on every subject and they give me meaningful tasks which results they would use almost immediately in other meetings. Also, the team is very friendly and the atmosphere was very relaxed even when there was a lot of work.

Management gave a lot of support along the way. There is a mid-internship review to tell you honestly if you are on track with the internship and how you are doing, and the recruiters hold drop-in sessions every week for anyone that needs it. The only downside I should say is that I feel like there is not enough feedback during work, but people are busy on the trading floor and I understand that.

Usually on every day I am fairly busy, working on something from 7am as I enter the office till 8pm when I usually leave. However, there are times where I get a lot of work at the same time or no work, and that could be slightly frustrating. However, considering that I am on the trading floor, this is expected and I don't complain about this work distribution.

I was given a lot of responsibility during my placement; they gave everything up to what I could legally do without being FCA regulated and there were cases which the work they gave me could not be completed due to my intern status, signalling that I was actually given quite a bit of responsibility. The work I do is not only real and is part of their every day process - the trades I work on are live and I could be completing a document in the morning and my colleague would be using it in the evening in a senior meeting. So I felt I was given a lot of good responsibility.

I improved a lot in excel VBA coding, and the Microsoft Office Suite in general. The shortcuts, methodologies, and general formatting would help me a lot in my further degree studies. Moreover, the skills I learned in logical thinking and also the knowledge I received in financial markets are greatly beneficial and helpful towards my future personal investment career and others.

The general atmosphere in my office was relaxed, laid-back and people cracked jokes from time to time. The work hours are demanding so people try to make this place as lively as possible: when we have some free time we would discuss anything from politics to hobbies to football, and when the Euro Cup was on, everyone was into that and we had very interesting and sometimes heated discussions about teams but ultimately team-bonding. It is a great experience at the office and I thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere there.

The internship set up was very organized and standardized, with a welcome party, multiple receptions and introduction meetings, trading games, mid-internship reviews, collaborative projects among interns, social events (drinks and clubs), presentations, talks from Senior members, networking sessions.....It is planned very well and all events I attended went smoothly and I could see that the organizers are very thoughtful in trying to get us know more about J.P.Morgan and the firm's culture and its people.

The cost of living in London is high and the cost of living in Canary Wharf, where bankers live, adds an extra layer to it. Realistically if you want to live alone in a studio the rent is about 300-350 pounds a week and if you are sharing then that number can vary from 200-300. It is a large expense and frankly sometimes annoying as Canary Wharf is not near the city centre but the housing here costs like the city center. The cost of living and socializing is in line with other areas in London and thus generally high.

Well....Nightlife existed and is generally good, but it is more of a problem of whether you get a chance to experience the nightlife. Most interns are relatively tired after a day's work, and the Nightlife here are mainly loud night clubs rather than cozy bars, so we just usually go to the city center. As said, Canary Wharf is a place for work (and maybe live), but it is not the best place to have fun around but London has quite a lot of good options and the transportation here is pretty convenient so Nightlife doesn't have to stop at Canary Wharf.

There were quite a lot of activities outside of work and the firm generally helped in organizing some social events, and also organizing a corporate responsibility day in which we went out to Victoria park and did a lot of volunteer work. That day was fun and also a welcome break from the usual work. That being said however, the hours are long and the work is relatively demanding, so the opportunities are often stretching in terms of energy but if you reach out, the events and opportunities are there.