Consulting intern Review

I really enjoyed my internship as it gave me a great opportunity to work and learn from very friendly, fun and smart colleagues and interns. The two week training was not too formal, very interactive and useful for the rest of the internship. I also enjoyed being able to do hands-on work, like what a consultant does in real life. I also enjoyed the social aspect, as FactSet hosted many events during my 10 weeks e.g. quiz night, pizza and drinks night, charity run.

Yes, I felt valued by my colleagues. I was put into a team in the beginning of week 3 until week 10. They would assign me tasks and explain the necessary background information to ensure I understand what to do. They gave me a lot of freedom to solve the tasks independently. They were easy to get along with, and would happily answer any questions I had.

My manager was also really supportive, giving me valuable constructive feedback along the way. We had weekly one-to-one meetings to give feedback on my training or projects, such as my presentation skills, communication, work ethic. He was very responsible, and made sure that the training sessions and business presentations/ talks went well and were useful to us. He was also very clear on the goals and objectives for the internship and asked us about them every week if we were on track.

I was pretty busy everyday, with various client queries to answer and also our own projects to prepare for on our own time, as well as shadowing at help desk. Although there is quite a lot to do, I really enjoyed it as I was given real client queries to solve, and I learned a lot from every task I did.

I was given a fair amount of responsibility during my internship. Different people from my team would assign me tasks with a set deadline. The tasks were mainly client queries such as helping them build custom reports, so it's a lot of responsibility for me to complete my tasks on time and of high standards.

The skills I developed during training and working will definitely help in my degree studies and beyond. I worked on my presentation skills and communication skills as I presented weekly to my manager, colleagues and interns. I also learned more about the finance field, such as financial terms, valuation metrics, asset management. This would help me in my finance modules next year.

The general atmosphere in my office was very friendly, cheerful, energetic and young. Most of the people there are in their 20s, and they are quite informal at the office. The team meetings are casual but at the same time, they get through their agenda.

The internship was very well organised, especially the training sessions. Different colleagues took turn to train us on the applications on FactSet, and they were all very professional and informative. The training sessions were also trained, and they provided soft copies of the training documents to help us in the later weeks. The weekly meetings with my manager was also very organised. The goals and objectives set in the beginning of the internship also made it clear what is expected and what we aim to learn overall.

They invested a lot in us in terms of personal training and development. Colleagues took their time out to train us, and the IT team provided brand new laptops for our internship. We had our own desk space with monitors etc. just like other consultants working there. We also had free lunch mondays to thursdays.

Future employment prospects seem appealing at FactSet. They are recruiting more consulting interns each year, as well as graduate consultants. Joining FactSet means you can take the CFA, sponsored by them if you pass, which is very beneficial.

There was a good social scene amongst the interns. They were all very friendly and helpful. We would work together on projects and share insights with one another. We usually have lunch together as a group and have socials after work occasionally together.

The cost of living is very high as it is in London, and they don't subsidise for transport or accommodation. Most interns would live at home and travel an hour to work. Alternatively you can find a flat to share. Socialising was great as there were lots of bars around Shoreditch/ Liverpool street area.

The nightlife was good in the are I worked as there were bars in that area. FactSet also hosted some night outs for the consultants and sometimes for the whole office. It was nice to meet other people during the nights out.

Yes there were some opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work. For example, we took part in the JP Morgan Charity Walk. There were also a few others such as the pub quiz where everyone at the UK office was invited. There was a volunteering event where we could make lunch for the disadvantaged in the neighbourhood. There was also a football night for charity, and a cricket match as a social acitivity.