Business Analyst Intern Review

The work I did during my internship was very relevant and important to the company. This gave the work much context and meaning which in turn resulted in the work being very enjoyable. The other factor that made my particular line of work enjoyable was that I learned a lot. My previous knowledge on the commodities trading industry was not very high but only after a couple of weeks I understood a considerable amount about the industry and the markets.

As the project I worked on was very central to the company's modernization, my work and me were very much valued by my colleagues. Even though I was very junior, I was treated like a regular employee from very early on in my internship. Obviously there was a knowledge gab between me and my colleagues but there were numerous occasions when someone took half an hour to explain certain concepts to me. This proved to me that my colleagues were very keen on investing in me.

The particular role I was in required me to be very independent and set many objectives and mile stones by myself. Thus there was not all to much guidance from my manager. This was for me however a good thing as I had to sharpen my time management skills and gain a better understanding of the big picture in order to allocate time effectively in and in a manner that was in line with the project's goal.

In the first couple of weeks I was not as busy as I expected to be. This was mainly due to the company having holding half year reviews which meant everyone was very busy. The pace quickly picked up from there and by week 3 I was busy to the point that I hardly had any free time. For me this was a good thing as I like being busy. The amount of work also varies from department to department.

The amount of responsibility was adjusted to my level of engagement. For me this was just about right. It pushed my comfort zone. But didn't do so to much.

There was a training session every week which was very interesting and gave a lot of context to my role. These sessions taught me a lot of industry specific knowledge which I can apply to my studies very well. Furthermore i could hone my time management, presentation and analytical skills far beyond the point to which a university degree might teach these skills. This was because of the exposure to all the different departments within the company I had.

The atmosphere varies between the front and the back office but is generally quite laid back. Times can also get busy which is noticeable. Everyone is very friendly and always happy to answer questions.

There was the prefect mix of individual work and "classroom" sessions.

Every week a person from a different department gave a presentation about their line of business. Apart from that there was a very well structured introduction session to commodities, taught by a financial training expert. Lastly, there was a presentation skills learning session that was done by an external body which was very valuable.

This heavily depends on the demand for work and the intern's situation.

Many departments have regular social events. This again varies from department to department.

London is generally to expensive!

London is probably one of the cities with the best nightlife in the world. You have to know where you go though.

J.P Morgan Corporate Challenge