Technology Intern Review

I felt that the work I was doing was very valuable, but occasionally it became a bit boring/monotonous. As I was knew to the team and project I often found myself recording/observing things I didn't understand which meant maintaining my interest and focus was difficult

My team were all very nice to me. I was invited to come with the team on pub trips or individual's birthdays and made to feel like part of the team.

Although I often struggled to understand much of the project this was down to (in my opinion) the project being very hard rather than having an unhelpful team. My team mates were always available to answer questions or provide me with reading material to enhance my understanding of the work I had to do.

The occasional later night (ie 7:30) but 9 till 6 was the usual for my working day and I had to work hard but the workload was very appropriate. I was never left without anything to do.

My work was quite self-contained. Although my reports were valued by the team I was working alone for the majority of the placement.

None of the specific training I received will be of any direct help in my degree, but I feel that the experience gained will be of immense help. I had never worked for such a large company before and so the considerations that need to be made (staff in different time zones, large numbers of staff) were all new to me.

Friendly (although I was told that in times past the team has been far less harmonious), semi-regular pub/restaurant trips and a good work life balance (no-one in the office seemed to average more that 10-hours a day including lunch)

My manager phoned me up to talk both a few weeks before the placement started and after it finished, I was told whether I was getting a permanent job offer before the placement ended and there were weekly talks about how the technology within the business worked. There was a beginning and end social, but it would've been nice if the business had organised more as I didn't get a chance to see many of my fellow interns while actually working.

All new interns were given some basic financial and MS Excel training before the internship started, but neither of these were of any use to me for the kind of work I was doing. I was however given some relevant and constructive feedback by members of my team and my supervisor.

The grad placement offers rotations which mean I'll spend two 12-month spans in different divisions. I'm hopeful therefore that I'll find a division within the business that I fell passionate about and enjoy. The atmosphere was very good as well and so I believe I'd enjoy working for UBS.

All my fellow interns were very nice people, but the fact that I didn't actually work alongside any of them and we were spread across many different locations meant socialising was limited.

Living wasn't too expensive (£126/week in claredale halls) but London socialising was as expensive (but also as good) as you'd expect.

Not much as I was working v. close to the city, but Shoreditch was only a 20min walk away from my accommodation and there were festivals and carnivals within easy reach during the summer.

We were required to undertake voluntary work through the company, but that was very enjoyable and only took up one day. Nothing else of note, although I didn't look that hard.