Finance Review

I really enjoyed my internship! The tasks which I were given were all exciting and interesting, as were the people whom I was working alongside who really seemed to take an interest in me. The relaxed yet professional atmosphere around the office made it an enjoyable place to be on a day to day basis.

I felt that my colleagues appreciated the work that I was doing, despite it taking me longer to complete tasks as I was having to learn what to do as I went along, but they were all extremely understanding and were very willing to take time out of their day to teach and advise me.

I had limited interaction with my main manager due to their schedule, however my supervisor was extremely supportive and made time for either daily or weekly updates for me to explain my progress and ask for any advise on what I was doing. They were also very willing to give me advice about the company in general so I got a broader sense of what it was like to work there.

This majorly varied according to the tasks which I had been given. Some weeks I would be working on an individual project and therefore set my own time frame, which meant that I consistently had work to do. Other times I was supporting my supervisor and was therefore reliant on them to provide me with work, if they had a busy day of meetings I would sometimes find myself with not so much work.

I was given a significant amount of responsibility during my internship. I mainly felt this when working on my own project as I had to speak to people from all across the company in order to complete it and then present my work to my team at the end of the project. I also felt responsibility on other tasks as they were being sent to external bodies and I was therefore trusted with doing these tasks to an extremely high standard.

The majority of my internship involved using excel and I therefore built up many skills on this which I will be able to apply to my degree in the way of data analysis, particularly when completing my dissertation. In terms of the data I was working with, and tasks I was completing on a day to day basis, I can't see them assisting my too greatly in my degree as the subjects don't have obvious overlaps.

The atmosphere in the office was great. The people sat around me were all very welcoming and friendly, taking an interest in both my work and life out of work which made me feel relaxed and at ease. I found the atmosphere very relaxed as it works on a hot desk system so you never know who you might end up sitting next to.

This was only the second year which this internship had been offered and the introduction and onboarding onto the internship wasn't as smooth as others may have been. However once I began the internship it felt well organised, my team had thought through the projects that they would give me, making sure that they were challenging enough for me to really benefit from my time there, but not so much that I would be confused the whole time!

The company invested a fair amount into my personal training and development. Each week I was sent online training courses to complete and could sign up for others if I chose to. I also regularly attended lunches organised by the company with other interns where we had the opportunity to speak to current graduates and long term employees to give us a better insight into what the company is like, and how we could best improve our work. These were both useful and enjoyable.

Future employment prospects with in the company are very good. Being an intern, you are fast tracked to the final stages of the graduate scheme application process which is a great head start!

There was an excellent social scene amongst the other interns and placement students. After initially being introduced through organised lunches, we continued to spend any free time during the day together as everyone had a relatively similar schedule. There were regular pub lunches arranged as well as after work drinks in the local pub which allowed for a great way to get to know people. My team also held regular lunches in the restaurant in the office.

Being in London, this wasn't particularly cheap. A large chunk of my wage was spent on accommodation, however this was to be expected and I went into the internship knowing this. Despite this, not being in central London did make a huge difference and prices for food and drink tended to be as you would expect them.

The nightlife in the immediate area around the office wasn't great, with only one pub located very close by and this therefore meant that people went for a quick drink after work then tended to head home. However with a short tube journey you could be in central London where the nightlife couldn't have been better.

The company has sports fields located near to the office and sports teams which anyone can get involved in. Interns and placement students also have the opportunity to organise fundraising initiatives and events for charity.