Internship Review at Financial Services Authority (FSA)

The Role

Role Description

I worked in the Mutuals Team which dealt with the registration of Industrial and Provident Societies, Friendly Societies, Credit Unions and Building Societies. I aimed to get in to the office at about eight thirty and leave around five or five thirty most days. However, there was a lot of flexibility with this within my team and the company as a whole; many of the other interns in my intake came in and left earlier or later than me. I ran several projects on my own as well as helping team members with their tasks. One of projects I ran involved having lots of interdepartmental meetings, survey taking and proposal writing. More often, however, I was doing case work and answering related emails, letters and phonecalls. I also received a significant amount of initial one-on-one training from individual members of my team. Quite often I had team meetings or managers meetings. I also had the opportunity to work shadow two employees on the graduate program, both of which were invaluable.

1. To what extent did you enjoy your work placement or internship?

★★★★★★★★★☆

Rated 9/10

I loved my time in the office. I really enjoyed the company of others. My one criticism would be that we had no choice over which department we were placed in. This meant that though I got some excellent expierience, it was not necessarily in a business area which I would have been interested in before I started.

2. To what extent did you feel valued by your colleagues?

★★★★★★★★☆☆

Rated 8/10

I felt very valued by my contempories. However at times the management did not give me enough freedom to prove that I could do more complicated tasks independently. This was admitedly more at the beginning of my time there, towards the end of my time I felt I had proven my value a little more.

3. To what extent were you given support and guidance by management/your supervisor(s)?

★★★★★★★★★★

Rated 10/10

The support systems are absolutely amazing. The HR team in particular are always incredibly helpful; not only was the training incredibly wide reaching but the continuous support was exemplary.

4. How busy were you on a daily basis?

★★★★★★★★☆☆

Rated 8/10

It varied. Some days I had a lot of things to do, too many sometimes!!! Other days I had to be a little more inventive in finding things to do. There was never really an excuse to have nothing to do as the team always had lots and lots of work so I just asked someone else. Also the intranet training suite was massive and this could be utilised to kill any extra time.

5. How much responsibility were you given during your placement?

★★★★★★★★★☆

Rated 9/10

I was given an increasing amount of repsonsibility during my placement. As I mentioned above at the beginning there was a lot of (sometimes unnecessary) help given to me, but towards the end of my time I felt almost totally independent.

6. To what extent did/will the skills you developed, and training you received, assist you in your degree studies and beyond?

★★★★★★★★★★

Rated 10/10

The skills I have learnt will be invaluable. Utilising time will be a massive aid in my University life, along with many of the learning skills gathered on training days. I have also had a massive amount of training which will really help with the Economics part of my degree. Overall in terms of work experience it is amazing. I imagine that it will support my career choices in the future just by virtue of the prestige associated with the schemes run by the FSA.

The Organisation

7. What was the general atmosphere in your office?

★★★★★★★★★★

Rated 10/10

The general atmosphere was lovely. Some of the other departments I visited in my time at the FSA were not as relaxed, but everyone was so friendly and eager to help in the whole building. I love the atmosphere so much! A massive selling point.

8. How well organised was the overall work placement or internship set up?

★★★★★★★★★★

Rated 10/10

The organisation of the scheme was well considered and well executed. There were events so frequently, whether they be exclusively work and skills related or social, and everything happened to plan. I have no complaints at all on the organisation of the scheme.

9. In terms of personal training and development, to what extent did the company or firm invest in you?

★★★★★★★★★★

Rated 10/10

There was a lot of training recieved. I was pleasantly surprised by how there was no descrimination between interns and those on the graduate scheme; anything that a grad could do we could also have accessed if we desired (within reason due to time constraints). I felt that a lot of time was spent on my personal development.

10. What were the perks on your work placement?

★★★★★★★★★★

Rated 10/10

• Flexi Time
• Subsidised Canteen
• Sports and Social Club
• Subsidised/Company Gym
• Company Parties/Events
• Healthcare/Dental

11. How appealing are future employment prospects within the organisation?

★★★★★★★★★☆

Rated 9/10

All of my feedback has been very positive up until this point. As I have yet to have my final review I am not aware whether I have a place on graduate scheme or not. I have not given them a full score rating for this reason, but also because there is some aspects of the scheme that are unknown due to the split of the firm.

Other Information

12. Was there a good social scene amongst any fellow placement students/colleagues?

★★★★★★★★★☆

Rated 9/10

There was a great social scene though at times it was a bit clique-y. I have neglected to give a full score as I could not engage in many of the socials due to the length of my commute, though if I had been staying in london it would have been so much fun!

13. What was the cost of living and socialising in the area you worked in?

★★★★★★☆☆☆☆

Rated 6/10

Because the office is in Canary Wharf many of the restaurants and shops are quite upmarket. This, however, was not prohibitive because we were paid so well. I would look to live in south/south east london if I am to get the graduate position, and working on the salary rates this would be manageable.

14. What was the Nightlife like in the area you worked?

★★★★★★★★★☆

Rated 9/10

Nightlife is amazing for bars. Not so much if clubbing is your thing in the immediate area, but obviously london as a whole is the best place in the county to go out, whatever you want to do.

15. Were there many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work?

★★★★★★★★☆☆

Rated 8/10

There were lots of opportunities to get involved in sporting activities and volunteering if you knew who to talk to. Often other intern contacts were most useful for this (though this may have been because my team just happened not to be so keen on those kinds of things). There were also many informal, non centralised activities outside of work.

In addition to these questions, is there any extra information you would like to leave about your experiences on your work placement that other students may be interested in?

Overall I absolutely loved it and would recommend the scheme to anyone that I knew. Though it was a lot of hard work to get here, and a lot of hard work once you are here, it is all definately worth it to work in a place such as this.

Review 77/92 for Financial Services Authority (FSA)

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