Summer Analyst- Sales and Trading Review

Very much. It was very broad and lots of responsibility was given to us. It was good to do 3 different desk rotations to get a better idea of the different areas, products and roles. There was also lots of other activities, socials etc scattered throughout the weeks so it wasn't just the same thing every week.

Very much by most of them. There wasn't really any moment when I felt that I'd been given a piece of work just to occupy me. The projects set were often used by the desks, and the colleagues were highly encouraging. It was nice to be able to go up to random members of the different teams and ask them to spend some time with you, and that they'd usually be most helpful, or ask you to come back at another time.

The support was good and varied. We had a "buddy" for support. This was someone nearer our age who had come through the internship and graduate process so they could advise us on certain things. We also had a "dean" who we could talk to about our progress, especially if we didn't want to say something directly to the people on our desks. And we also had a contact within HR who would happily answer our questions and check up on us.

Pretty busy at times, but it came in waves with certain project deadlines. The hours were 7ish-6ish for me, with the morning market hours being busiest. Some people got in earlier and stayed later but I didn't feel that this was necessary. Each desk would give the interns different things to work on. My first desk was fairly relaxed so there were projects to work on, but it was up to me to go around and talk to people to find out more, so that kept me busy. The next two desks had more set daily routines. But throughout the internship there are lots of extra things (e.g. stock pitches and the "games") which keep you busy.

It's hard to truly be given responsibility as an intern, as we can't actually do the selling or trading. But the responsibility comes in an indirect form as you work on projects that the desks then actually use on a day-to-day basis. This may be something like a excel project which speeds us desk processes, or gathering news and information that will be useful to the desk and emailing them a summary every morning.

I think the knowledge is quite industry specific, so this won't necessarily help me with my degree but it will be useful if I return to the finance industry. Some of the soft skills will most likely be useful though. Confidence with talking to a range of people and "networking" are highly focused on and these are useful skills in any kind of working environment, so it was certainly useful in that sense.

It was very lively and quite loud at times, but I found it enjoyable. You find that different desks and sections have different atmospheres and these vary by time of day. For example, anything equity related was usually very loud and busy when the markets were opening and closing. But some other areas, less flow based, were calmer. Generally there was a good team atmosphere, and the people within a team all sit next to each other so there's no clear hierarchy.

Overall it was very well organised. It was clear that a lot of effort had gone into organising our timetables and the structure of the whole program. There were lots of meetings with senior staff members, and they rarely seemed too busy to want to talk to us. There were socials in the evenings, allowing us to meet the rest of the interns properly and also some of the staff. And there were charity events, so we had a day out of the office, doing something a bit different. It was also good that there was a training week built into the program at the very beginning.

I think they did appear to invest highly in us. In terms of time this was very clear. The team members would often take out chunks of their day to go over material with us and explain things to us. And, as mentioned, there were frequent talks from senior members of staff, so for them to devote such large amounts of time to us was a huge investment. In other terms, it was also clear that there was a large investment in us. We were all set up with Bloomberg access, and trained by external companies to use Bloomberg, as well as having numerous other training sessions, such as with Excel. And for the social and networking events, it was clear that a lot of time and investment had been put in to organising these optimally for us.

I think they are quite appealing. What was good to find was that there are so many roles and products that there is bound to be one that would suit you. It may suit you in terms of working style, deadlines, hours, pace etc, or it may just be that you get on with the team really well. The employees make the future employment prospects appealing. I met several very pleasant and intelligent people who I imagine I would like to work with. Another appealing aspect is that you would be trained up on the job, and from seeing graduates just a few months in to their jobs, it is clear that you learn a lot quickly.

Yes. As well as the organised social events we also used to have spontaneous socials on some evenings.

It's London. It's expensive. But you can usually find some OK places.

Lots of bars and restaurants. Very lively.

There were some charity events and things, and extra stuff like the gym membership.