Summer Analyst Review

Having experienced other firms, there are places in which MUFG is better and place in which it is better. In terms of the work-life balance, this is certainly much better than many of the other places I have experienced (no weekend-working and only a handful of evenings beyond 9pm) Overall the people are very friendly, however, and there are a number of stand-out individuals which made the office particularly enjoyable However, given the small size the community sprit amongst interns and between interns and full-time employees is somewhat lacking. With only 8 interns I was expected greater cohesion, which I did not feel was particularly supported by the programme. Many of the social opportunities came towards the end of the programme where perhaps it would have been better if these opportunities had been more heavily weighted towards the beginning of the programme to facilitate a more meaningful bond between the interns. The opportunity of a second rotation is a positive one, but is somewhat derivative given its short duration and 'non-evaluative' nature There are a number of informative sessions which were useful in gaining a greater understanding of various parts of the firm, although, in keeping with the theme of greater intern interaction, it may have been better if they were greater in number. Furthermore, interns are told that these sessions are assessed which, I believe, lead to a certain tension during the sessions which may have diminished there utility

This is one of the strengths of the programme, as the teams are small, you are given greater responsibility and the tasks given are those that the team genuinely needs. As with any internship, however, there are tasks given which feel as though they have been 'palmed-off' to the intern. Furthermore, it sometimes felt as if the work given to me was an afterthought, as people would give me work as they were walking out of the door, which made it difficult to ask questions about the work. This has been a feature at other places I have worked, and is not specific to this firm

The culture is very flat, this is a large bonus of the firm and reaching out to people was generally very easy. This meant asking questions and gaining a greater understanding of the product and teams was fairly easy. Part of the programme requires you to schedule meetings with at least 10 D+ level employees. This is a nice idea although the fact that it is a requirement mad it somewhat unnatural. Especially given that, overall, the firm does not have a 'coffee chat' culture meaning that these meetings often felt overly formal. This is at odds with the flat culture and the general feeling that senior people were more approachable.

Not particularly busy, although this was variable. I think this is a combination of working during the summer period and the fact that a lot of the work seems to be in pitching, which is more top-heavy. As above, given that it sometimes felt that work landed on my desk with little forethought this was rather irregular. I often found that I would ask for work and be given none which suggested that it was a fairly slow time

As above, this is one of the strengths of the programme, in that, when I was given project work I was often given a satisfying amount of responsibility

The actual training programme is somewhat mixed. Given the small size of the internship it is, understandably, not possible to give desk/product specific training. However, this dramatically reduces its utility and meant that it felt much more like a theoretical/educational training programme on financial markets as opposed to the practical course it really ought to be. However, I would say that there is an incredible opportunity to learn on the desk, due to the responsibility mentioned above

The office is surprisingly fairly quiet. There are certain desks which seem to buck this trend but it general people focus on their work and there are a number of people who work with headphones in on the other hand, the PAs in the office are outstanding and do a lot to contribute to a friendly atmosphere

In general it was fairly well organised, although as the programme is relatively young there are some things that could be improved. As mentioned above, it may be more useful if there were a more practical component to the training (i.e. excel training which focused on functions we are more likely to use day-to-day)

The review meetings are taken seriously, which is very useful in terms of personal development and people will take the time to explain things, so there is certainly a great opportunity for development

I think overall it is a good company and certainly the work/life balance is fantastic when compared to its peers,

Not particularly and that is particularly disappointing about the internship given how small it is, I had hoped to make more meaningful bonds.

It's London so fairly expensive as one could imagine

It's London so lots of things to do as one could imagine