Spring Intern Review

Citi is unique in that it allows first year students to sit on a desk for a 5 days which is the best way to actually understand what the business does. This also enables you to meet and talk to as many people as possible and decide whether you can see yourself working here in the future. This is an invaluable experience, however, for five days it can be difficult as everyone is very busy and you cannot really work on any projects or add value for the team. This can be disheartening and frustrating.

Everyone I spoke to on the floor was friendly and generally approachable but it is difficult to say I felt valued as I was not contributing to the deals or put in a position to perform well for the team.

The week began with several sessions with HR which gave an introduction to Citi. Throughout the week there were two sessions about how to excel in the assessment centre and interviews. However, apart from this you were left to make of the week what you wished which was quite overwhelming at first. My buddy was excellent in explaining concepts to me and introducing me to other people.

The specific information I learnt about the work my team was doing was quite technical but on a more basic level it will help me with my degree studies.

Most full days were spent in your respective division with lunch sessions Monday-Thursday and two morning sessions. The work shadowing was unstructured.

The team I was in got on really well together and so it was a pleasant working environment. However, the work they were doing was very technical so it was difficult to become involved and often felt like a bit of a hassle as I could not do any work.

No training sessions were included.

The first hand insight into the culture in the division I was in was great. However, the work itself was difficult to understand entirely.

Spring week was unpaid, however, food was either provided or reimbursed. A hotel was offered to candidates from outside London.

Yes. There was a senior networking event and a junior networking event on Tuesday and Thursday evening. During the day I spoke to different people in different teams on the floor.

Senior networking event was held in the office canteen and was slightly more formal. Was a great opportunity to meet employees from different divisions to get a broader insight into other areas of the bank. Very senior people attended and I found it particularly interesting. Junior networking event was held outdoors at Pizza Pilgrims nearby. This was a more informal setting.

I learnt about the different charity initiatives that go on at Citi. In particular the project Africa program.

It was a great insight into Citi and the daily routine of the employees in my team. I would recommend this insight to a friend but let them know how different the week is to other banks in terms of the amount of freedom and responsibility you have to carve out the week for yourself.