Research Review

Very mixed. It was enjoyable to the extent that I learnt new things, met new people, and engaged with senior staff. There was also lots of flexibility with working hours and it was not at all stressful. However, I was often bored and I did not feel valued. The job was very monotonous.

I certainly did not feel valued by my team or colleagues. Some were extremely rude and did not say thank you for doing work, even if it was complex. I was thanked collectively with other team members for big presentations etc. but rarely individually. I did not encourage me to do work quickly or well.

I was helped whenever I asked. If there was a complex issue I would be sat down and go through it. However, this was quite rare as they did not seem hugely keen on being asked. However, most work was done on my own and there was not enough collaboration.

I am writing this (which is very very boring) during work so as you can imagine I am not always very busy at all. There are pinch points during the year where I can earn overtime and it is busy. But often I am forced to do my own revision and learning (not always a bad thing).

Basically zero. I always asked to be involved in additional things and do things above my pay grade. To be fair they often let me get involved but they never actively let me do this. I imagine if I didn't ever ask I would never have been given anything :(.

I learnt some R, MATLAB, Stata, VBA and went on many very useful Excel courses. This was extremely useful for my job, future jobs and at university. There were also countless online courses to learn about a great range of different financial topics. It has also helped me deal with people in a work environment.

I hated the atmosphere in my office. There was basically never any talking and left me feeling extremely bored and unable to ask questions to people face to face. This was disappointing as I got on with most of the people individually very well. I think the culture could be improved.

The graduate job is very different and much harder. I think you are respected a lot more and you engage with lots more people on sophisticated projects. There is a chance of progressing to very senior levels (albeit slowly) where you engage with high level colleagues. You can go abroad too.

There used to be a reasonably good social scene amongst fellow placement students. We went out every Thursday and always for people's birthdays. However, there quickly became cliques and group drinks slowed. Now it is even rare for more than five people to go out for a drink which is disappointing.

There is a huge sports centre where you can get involved in lots of different sports, both recreationally and at a more serious level. There is a subsidised gym too. In terms of external engagements they are limited but it is very possible if you ask. This involves conferences and speeches.