
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
I really did enjoy the internship, personally I feel that nothing beats the first hand experience. Also the general culture around the firm and the sheer vastness of it made it so easy to learn so much.
As soon as I began to take on genuine responsibility I felt that I was truly valued by the team and other colleagues as ultimately I was also lightening their personal workload. In addition, I feel that because I took ownership of those tasks, they appreciated and respected me as an equal rather than just an intern.
My manager as well as more experienced members in the team were always willing to help when it was within their means and they were not too busy. For each task that was assigned to me, they went through the processes thoroughly and were always supportive if I had any questions.
Initially, because of the nature of the day, there were periods where I was really hard at work and periods where I was waiting for data to load for example. However after requesting additional responsibilities I eventually a a consistently busy day which I was happy with.
Overall, I was treating the same as a graduate Analyst when it came to the responsibilities. At first I was given a certain number of tasks, however after getting comfortable with those I found myself with gaps in my day thus I asked for additional responsibilities which were given to me. After which, in terms of the number of tasks, I wasn't much different from other full time members of the team.
In a product control role, the processes and tasks are heavily reliant on Excel thus my skills in the program had certainly improved. In addition, I believe I had also improved in terms of my confidence to speak to other people who I had never met, even in other countries, to solve problems and discuss work.
The Company
I believed that the general atmosphere in the office had the perfect balance. First and foremost, everyone is there to work and the atmosphere reflects that. However within that and work aside, everyone is communicating to each other informally as well without distracting from the job too much. No one comes across as a robot who only cares about the work when in the office.
Overall the whole opportunity was well organised. We were sent weekly newsletters from campus recruitment about presentations etc as well as reminders about particular administration tasks that needed to be addressed. The email accounts were based on Outlook which has a calendar feature which was used extensively to make the interns aware of what was coming up.
From the beginning, there were many online tutorials that the firm had registered the interns to. Although these did become quite tedious but I would imagine it's a requirement in that kind of institution.
Subsidised/Company Gym
Company Parties/Events
Healthcare/Dental
I have been offered the Analyst role in the Finance division which I have in turn accepted. In addition, due to the size of the firm and hearing about the career paths of senior figures in the firm, the scope for internal mobility seems incredible. With this in mind as well as the perceived security of the firm I would say the prospects are very appealing.
The Culture
Overall, there was an excellent social scene amongst the cohort. Everyone came across as really genuine and I have built strong friendships with some of the other interns. When we went to socials, everyone was together enjoying themselves away from work being inclusive.
In an area like Canary Wharf naturally the cost of living and socialising was high but there are some more reasonably priced places if you know where to look. Those places of course will also be busiest.
The nightlife in an area dominated by financial entities was naturally brilliant. There are so many places to try out and so many hidden gems in the area and surrounding areas. Even 10 weeks was insufficient time to truly discover everything.
The possibility of Business Resource Groups were communicated to us from the first day as something that the interns could get involved in. Although one could argue that because we were not in permanent positions, there was a limit to what could be done there.
Details
Internship (1 Month+)
Accounting
London
September 2017