Commercial Banking Internship Review

I very much enjoyed my internship for a number of reasons. Primarily I think it was a very flexible programme - I was able to tailor it in order to get out of it what I wanted. I worked with a great team who were always eager to help and I enjoyed the emphasis on mixing with the other interns.

I feel that I have built genuine working relationships with the people in my team. It is a fairly small team of 4 and I feel that they have been very welcoming to me. Not only have they supported me in the working environment but they have also invited me along to some networking events, showing that they are comfortable in bringing me along to important events.

My manager and the team I was working in were always available for support and guidance. Throughout the internship they consistently showed their enthusiasm to help my learning and development in the role. In addition they regularly sat down with me to talk about feedback and progression so that I could improve.

I never felt that I didn't have things to do. My team consistently ensured that I had work to be getting on with and as well as this on the programme we are given projects to do in groups so I could work on this when I felt that things were quieter in the office.

The amount of responsibility I was given was fairly limited. However I feel it was in line with what was appropriate for myself as an intern due to the fact a) I was in a very complicated area of the bank and b) I was working in a team that lends very large amounts of money.

At university I study Management and Spanish. As part of my management course I will be studying some finance/accounting modules in final year. I feel that having exposure to a bank and regularly looking at deal transactions and company accounting records will help me in these courses in my final year at university.

The atmosphere in my office was always positive and friendly.

I think that the internship was very well organised with a number of events set up to help us track our progress. There was a strong internal network of people that were involved in the programme, so I felt that there was always good communication between the interns and the programme managers.

There was some investment in personal training and development through online e-learning and induction events. I think it would have been useful to offer some additional basic training for those who are not from a financial background.

I am very interested in working with HSBC in the future. I think the culture here is very team-orientated which I enjoy and there is a huge emphasis on career progression. I have always been interested in banking and the graduate scheme gives the opportunity to work in three different areas of the bank which would be a very useful experience for my career prospects.

The programme managers placed a lot of emphasis on building your intern network. At our induction events/ development days, they ensured that as well as learning opportunities, there was always opportunities to socialise and build genuine connections with fellow interns. In our last week there will even be a black tie event!

The cost of living and socialising in Leeds is fairly average. I am from London where everything is much more expensive, so for me I found it quite reasonable.

I study at the University of Leeds and my internship was based in Leeds city centre so I was already very familiar with the area it's sociable aspect. The nightlife in Leeds is great, there is a wide variety of bars/clubs to go to that are suitable for all types of people.

There were some opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work, however given the short duration of the internship this was fairly limited.