Summer Analyst Review

I really enjoyed the internship - it was great to be able to work on projects and tasks that actually helped the team, and there was a range of things to do which meant it never became routine or mundane. The office was a very social environment, which made it easy to go to work every day.

I felt pretty valued by other colleagues in my division - everyone definitely seems to want you to do well and come back in the future, so they take time to speak to you, teach you about the work that they're working etc. However I definitely felt like HR values certain divisions over others in terms of resources and getting interns onboarded.

My supervisors were very helpful and were definitely available whenever I needed more guidance for any tasks or projects I was working on. Some projects that I was working on were a bit vague with regards to scope, which made it a bit difficult to start, but overall support and guidance were definitely there.

It was busy, like I never had a moment where I would think 'oh I have nothing to do now' but I never felt like I was overwhelmed with work. It also depends on whether you are trying to be proactive or taking the opportunity to learn and see things beyond the team you are placed in, but the workload is definitely manageable.

I had a lot of responsibility in the sense that I had full ownership of certain projects. Of course, these projects weren't necessarily directly client-facing, but I definitely saw their value in helping my team in the longer run, and it was great to be able to have deliverables that will be used.

I don't necessarily think that the skills I have developed during this internship will be directly useful for my studies, but for everything else, definitely this experience has been great. I developed my ability to communicate effectively and work efficiently, which are skills that are crucial for future work or even in social environments.

The atmosphere at the office was overall pretty good - no one is very stressed (or shows it anyway), people chat about things outside of work, and on Fridays people are definitely more laid back and relaxed. In general everyone is very down to earth and it is not cut through or aggressive at all.

People at Citi - from HR to your managers to the people who sit around you - want interns to come back, and it is obvious from the time they spend on us. I think HR does try and convert most summer analysts into full time analysts so I would say prospects are quite good as long as you manage the expectations of what you are meant to deliver in the 10 weeks.

The intern class is pretty social, where people in general are happy to mingle beyond their division or team. However, it does ultimately depend on yourself or the people you meet to set up a time for drinks or anything of the sort - there was only one organized social event across all divisions which happened on the first day of the internship.

Canary Wharf is great for after-work socializing - there are a lot of bars and pubs around the area, so it is easy to bump into people you may know as well. In terms of actual nightlife however, the area gets very quiet once everyone leaves, and there are no nightclubs.

Citi has a lot of clubs that people join after work, like a choir, a photography club etc. as well as one-off activities like a 5K charity run. However, I am unaware if they advertise them to interns and my knowledge of them stems only from speaking to people in my office.