Research Assistant Review

Overall, I really enjoyed my placement year with the Bank and worked on many interesting projects. You get lots of exposure to real economic issues and financial markets. Although there were some slightly tedious BAU tasks I think that this would be the case in all work places. Working at the Bank allows a work-life balance that ensures you can still enjoy life in the City. The location is also great for shopping and lunch and is an easy commute from many areas around the city.

Whilst on placement I met many interesting and lovely people. I worked in the Data and Statistics Department where the team were very close both in and out of the office. My team ensured that I was given task that actively contributed towards goals and this created a feeling of being a valuable asset.

I have rated this highly as my supervisors understood when I needed a lot or a little support and offered this on a task by task basis. This allowed me to self-manage and work independently on tasks I was more confident with but also to be guided and advised on new or unfamiliar tasks. The quality of support and guidance was generally of a very high level.

At the Bank lots of work is done in either quarterly or monthly rounds. This suited my personal working style. This means that there are times when you are very busy and times when you're much quieter. When you're 'off-round' it was encouraged in my department (DSD) to work shorter days using flexi-time or to participate in some of the many extras the Bank offers to better your personal development. This includes free training or interesting seminars from both internal and external speakers - a favourite being Jeremy Paxman.

Due to the high profile nature of the project I worked on I felt that I was given a lot of responsibility during my placement. I did lots of liaising with external contacts and made decisions that had a real impact. I was allowed to take control of tasks and was given steadily increasing responsibility as the placement went on - meaning I was basically completely the roll of a graduate, rather than a placement student, by the time I left.

I think my placement at the Bank will help with my degree studies as I have had lots of exposure to the work that goes into MPC decisions, encouraging my understanding of key Economic issues. I also now have an awareness of the widespread data that the Bank collects, which will be really helpful when writing my dissertation. Working at the Bank, external speeches by prominent Bank staff and internal seminars have also given me many ideas for my dissertation. Although some of the skills I have developed have been very Bank based, there are also many skills that will be applicable to future jobs such as Excel, R-coding, communication and organisation.

My department (DSD) were very lively so the office atmosphere was always fun. There were always people talking and discussing work as well as just general chatting as everyone was also close on a personal level. If you needed some quiet to really concentrate, many people worked with headphones or moved to some of the designated quiet areas of the office. There are also lots of nice quiet coffee spots around the building. This being said, other areas of the Bank do have much quieter and subdued offices - this really varies from department to department.

The work placement was generally well organised with work and expectations being clearly set out and training being organised. Towards the end of my placement I think less thought had been put into my role but this allowed me to look for and offer to work on things that interested me including completing secondments in other departments.

The Bank invests a lot into training and development from technical skills such as Excel, various coding programs and Tableau to soft skills such as time and people management. The extent to which you benefit from this is entirely up to the individual. Courses can be taken both face to face as well as many being offered online.

I will definitely be reapplying to the Bank - likely to a number of departments. The graduate scheme would ensure a higher salary (approximately 50% increase from placement) and more opportunities for personal development. The conversion process from Placement to Graduate is really simple and does not require any interviews or assessment centres - it is merely based on your performance review across the year.

The Bank takes on around 50 placement students and at the start of the year hosts a number of social events. There is also a great social scene around the department with lots of after work drinks or socials, team lunches, sports teams and Bank hosted events. There is also a real coffee culture at the Bank which can help break the day up.

The area around the Bank can be expensive as would be expected in the City - however there are lots of great inexpensive lunch spots and most bars have happy hours from 5pm onwards - it is actually cheaper usually to go out after work in the City rather than other popular areas such as Shoreditch and Soho. Bank is also accessible via tube, train and DLR so it is perfectly feasible to live further out for lower rent and still have a reasonable commute.

The nightlife around Bank is always great fun and reasonably cheap (as stated above). Thursdays and Fridays are usually best but there are also many lovely restaurants for dinner on all week day evenings. There are also other fun activities nearby such as mini golf and food festivals. I would recommend getting a Timeout magazine for free every Tuesday to find lots of fun things to do across London.