Internship Review at Schroders

The Role

Role Description

First 4 weeks in Product Development involved developing ideas for new funds, predominantly doing competitor analysis and market research.
The last 4 weeks in Product management involved making presentations for client meetings, filling out questionnaires from prospective clients about the funds, and month end performance reporting.

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

★★★★★★★★☆☆

Rated 8/10

A very good placement - generally pretty interesting, and colleagues were great tot work with.

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

★★★★★★★★★☆

Rated 9/10

Was involved by both the teams, who went out of their way to organise and explain things for me.

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

★★★★★★★★★☆

Rated 9/10

Had a half-day introduction to the industry at the beggining, then got involved straight away. Was well supported within the teams though, and could always ask for helpl or advice if I needed it.

4. How busy were you on a daily basis?

★★★★★★★☆☆☆

Rated 7/10

Product development was fairly consistently busy as my work was mostly a long-term project. Product manegement was variable however, and went from being really busy with important deadlines to having nothing to do in the space of a day or two. I think this is more the nature of the job though rather than not being given enough to do, especially as august is a pretty dead month in the city.

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

★★★★★★★★★☆

Rated 9/10

I was given responsibility - in the first half I was responsible for making a competitor analysis booklet for a new fund that would be used by the sales team, and in the second half mostly with filling out questionnaires for prospective clients.

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

★★★★★★★☆☆☆

Rated 7/10

Won't really help me at all in my degree, but will hopefully be very useful in the search for a job after I graduate

The Organisation

7. What was the general atmosphere in your office?

★★★★★★☆☆☆☆

Rated 6/10

Varied a lot - some days half the office were on holiday, so could get pretty quiet, but there was generally a bit of office banter going on.

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

★★★★★★★★★☆

Rated 9/10

The internship was very well organised - things had been planned for the interns to do on a day to day basis, and there was a free lunch with a head of department every week where they talked about what they did and we could ask questions. Selection procedure was all over the place though, otherwise it would be ten stars. The website said selection would be finished by february, but I didn't hear anything about my appplication until may. Everything was organised a bit last minute as well, and interviews had to be fitted in around everyones exam schedules. This was due to exceptional circumstances to be fair - the company had been having several rounds of redundancies and was working out what to do about internships, but it wouldn't have taken much effort to email applicants and let them know rather than leaving us in the dark for 5 months.

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

★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆

Rated 5/10

I wasn't neglected, but they're going to invest a great deal of time in training an 8 week intern.

(note about below - there were 4 days holidays, which comes to 26 a year if I'd been there that long)

10. What were the perks on your work placement?

★★★★★★★☆☆☆

Rated 7/10

• Flexi Time
• Company Parties/Events
• Above 25 days holiday

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

★★★★★★★★☆☆

Rated 8/10

Still have to apply normally, but have contacts in the company, experience and good feedback.

Other Information

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

★★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆

Rated 4/10

Not particluarly, went out for a few lunches but that was about it. Commuted in so there may have been more going on if I was about in the evenings.

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

★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Rated 3/10

London prices

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

★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆

Rated 5/10

Didn't go out in the evenings as I commuted.

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

★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Rated 1/10

May have been things going on if I was there longer - there was plenty that full-time staff did, but I didn't really come across anything in my 8 weeks

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?

Generally an excellent internship.

Review 16/25 for Schroders

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