Finance Analyst Review

I had a thoroughly enjoyable year working at American Express. One of the best aspects of the company, I found, is the people. I worked with numerous different people during the year, some in finance (the department my placement was based) but also many in marketing, data analytics and risk teams. Everyone I worked with has an extremely collaborative attitude towards work which I thought was a healthy approach and it made the work significantly more enjoyable. Furthermore, I felt that I was able to learn a great deal from my colleagues, particularly as they were all so willing to put in the time to help develop my skills when necessary.

Understandably this progressed throughout the year. At the beginning I felt valued as my colleagues would often spend their time helping me to understand a particular concept. Quite quickly I began to feel that my team saw me an integral part of the team, particularly towards the end of the year when I assumed more responsibility.

There is a significant level of support from your manager. However, it is not just your manager that guides and supports you. I was able to work with my manager, director, vice-president and the other analysts in my team, all of which can provide a different type of support.

This was very dependant on what was going on in terms of projects and deadlines. The first few weeks or so were very quiet which was understandable as I wasn't particularly knowledgeable on my subject so there wasn't that much work I could do. However, after the induction period I constantly had work to do. Personally, I felt that this was a huge plus as there is nothing worse than sitting around at work with nothing to do. That being said, it was very rare that I felt I had an uncomfortable amount of work to be completed.

I was given a huge amount of responsibility, even from relatively early on in my tenure. By the end of the year I was able to work as the sole finance contact with various marketing and business teams in order to complete some deal modelling and various projects.

The number one skill I learned was Excel. This mainly developed from demonstrations from colleagues and definitely is something that will be invaluable in the future, for my degree and undoubtedly for work beyond that. I also was able to complete some of my CIMA qualifications during my year which was supported by my team and leaders. I was able to take time off to study for and complete my exams and these skills will assist me in the future.

The atmosphere in my office was generally very positive. It’s a friendly environment where collaboration is encouraged and so often I might walk around the office to ask someone a question who might have more experience or understanding of a particular topic. This enables you to work faster and build relationships more easily.

The placement was organised very well. The first few months we were also at the company with the summer interns and during that summer there were a lot of activities and events happening for us. We went to see the Lion King in the theatre, took a cruise down the Thames and several others. After the summer interns the placement was more focused on getting an offer for a job. We had a mid year review where we could be assessed and given feedback and the same at the end of the year. I believe the summer internship programme has the same structure but obviously within a shorter time frame.

I have already mentioned this previously but American Express spent a lot of time investing in my development. This was partly from my colleagues sitting down with me to help me understand something but I also attended a number of training sessions that were made available. The classes I took where on presentation skills and a few more work specific classes. I was also allowed to take some time off to study for my CIMA qualifications.

Future employment prospects are very appealing with American Express. They spend a lot of time training and developing their intake, whether it be summer interns, placement students or graduates and I believe this means that they want to take people back for a full time position whenever possible. It is also possible to see the lines of progression that graduates have followed in the past, which is encouraging. I was lucky enough to have been offered a job by American Express.

The social scene amongst your fellow colleagues is what you make of it. I would go for drinks with some of the other students about once a week but there was also a lot going on with my colleagues at work. After a while, a lot of these colleagues feel more like friends and there were plenty of examples where we would go to the pub for a drink after work.

I was actually living at home and commuting into work so I can't answer this comprehensively. From what I gathered from my fellow placement students there seemed to be a variety of costs of living ranging anywhere from about £500 a month to over a £1000. Generally it seemed like you could get a room in a flat share for about £600 a month and still be relatively close to work. Around the office it can be reasonably expensive for food but perhaps not as high as I might have expected. It's really upto you on whether you want to buy expensive food/drink every day.

There are a huge variety of pubs and bars nearby which we would often go to after work. Clubbing isn't really my scene so I can't comment on that although from what I heard from my colleagues it sounded like there were plenty of places to go. In London you're so close to so many places that you can really do anything in the evenings, even if you have to get on the tube for a couple of minutes or get an Uber.

I'm sure there are quite a few activities going on outside of work. I played 5 a side football every Monday with my colleagues from across different teams. Due to the links between American Express and Brighton football club we were also able to play a practice match at their training facilities and we also had a tournament at the actual Brighton stadium which was a pretty surreal experience. There was also a squash league which I would play in from time to time.