Insight Day Review

I very much enjoyed this insight day at M&G Investments. Although I was only there for a brief period of time, I felt that I learnt a lot and got a really great insight into investment management. The insight was informative and I found the speakers to be engaged and interesting.

I felt really extremely valued during this insight. M&G employees took the time to learn our names and little bit about us as well as our interests. We had expose to a number of senior employees, which was really beneficial and demonstrated that we were valued as they had taken the time to speak with us.

There was guidance throughout. Before I joined the programme, the HR recruitment team were always on hand to answer my questions and provided us with lots of information before we began. On the insight, someone always accompanied us from the company so we could ask them questions. The HR team also included one-to-one feedback sessions.

Due to the short nature of the insight, there is more of a focus of providing information, rather than skills development, however I still feel that I developed my networking and communication skills, as we had the opportunity to speak with senior employees. The technical information learnt will be beneficial for my degree and applying for future roles.

I found this insight day to be extremely well structured. At the beginning of the day we got a timetable, which listed out each activity for each hour. This allowed us to quickly prepare for each activity and know what was up next! The day flowed smoothly and I found all the activities to be beneficial and interesting.

I found there to be a really great atmosphere on the programme! All the other interns were friendly and really interesting to speak to. Everyone had something different to bring to the day. There was a good atmosphere in the office also. I found it to be fast pace, buzzy and exciting!

No formal training, but good for personal development.

I found the insight to be very beneficial in understanding what it would be like to have a full time role at M & G. Speaking to employees, I gained an understanding of day-to-day life in the company and what the work life balance would be like. Networking sessions really helped me to discover more about what it would be like to work there.

The insight is great for understanding more about company culture. Investment banks can be quite different in their approach so it is good to understand how different firms operate. From what I gathered, the hours are relatively sociable and there is a focus on work/life balance. There is an emphasis on diverse and M&G is striving to create an open and inclusive working environment.

During my time at M&G, I received a really insightful overview of the wide-ranging divisions that make up the business. This helped me to decide where my interests lie and where my skills would be most suited. However, I do think that there is a limitation on how much you realise in one day and a longer programme would be better for determining future career path. Nonetheless, still very useful.

Reimbursed travel expenses.

During the insight day at M&G, there were two networking sessions. Firstly, we had a networking session with graduates and this was a great opportunity to ask more ‘basic’ and ‘simplistic’ questions. It was great to understand more about how the graduate scheme operates and the training that is put into grads. Our second session involved networking with more senior members of staff. It was useful to talk to people who were very successful in their respective careers and how they have achieved this.

Good balance between formal and informal.

During this insight, I did learn about the different opportunities that employees could get involved in. M&G is involved in a number of philanthropic causes and employees have the opportunity to volunteer for different events etc. From speaking to employees, I also learnt about a number of different informal sport teams that they have set up.

Yes!