Penultimate Year Internship within Monetary Analysis Review

The internship program at the Bank of England was really enjoyable. Coming from a non-economics background, I was concerned the experience would be overwhelming but everyone helped to ensure I didn't feel out of place. The level of work I had to complete was more than enough, and sufficiently interesting to keep me engaged throughout.

Everyone in my division was very welcoming, whether it be offering to have a coffee with me when I first started or having general conversations asking about the progress of my work. After my end of internship presentation, I also received lots of positive feedback and advice from a number of colleagues

My line manager offered me lots of support, scheduling regular catch up sessions to see the progress I was making. Outside of this, the other members of my team were always open to helping me and were happy to spend time reviewing what I had done and offering their own views.

The majority of my internship was spent working on a project that culminated in a short report and presentation at the end of the 8 weeks. Therefore I always had plenty of work to be getting on with and was mostly busy throughout, though in the last week there were times when the work slowed a little due to the fact I had already done my presentation.

I was given a good amount of responsibility, as I was given a project outline and then it was mostly up to me with the specific directions I wanted to go in with the project. However since I was doing project-based work, the overall responsibility I had wasn't something that was as important outside of that.

I developed important skills throughout the internship. I spent a lot of the internship learning to code in R which will help with my degree and work after, and I was exposed to lots of economic concepts which should aid me when it comes to joining the working world.

The atmosphere in my office was very relaxed and I never felt any huge tension or pressure, as everyone was content with getting on with their own work. My office was not the busiest or loudest and the quiet nature did take some getting used to, but that mainly because most of the work done in my office was research based.

The internship was very well set up, with my division ready for my arrival. I was presented with work as soon as I got there and always felt like my questions or confusions were dealt with. The only improvement could have been sooner details about start times etc for my first day, but this was a minor detail.

The company invested a good amount in me, by providing me with lots of resources and giving me a project that would allow me to develop important skills, such as coding. The company also encouraged me to go to a variety of meetings to expose myself to new ideas and difficult concepts.

Future employment prospects are very appealing, as I very much enjoyed my placement and there was nothing to deter me from pursuing a potential career with them afterwards. We were also presented with lots of information about how a future job may like and the steps we would need to take to achieve this.

There was a good social scene, with the early careers team organising several events for the interns to get the chance to interact and socialise. The interns also organised some events among themselves throughout the program which allowed further socialising and allowed you to meet interns from other parts of the Bank that you didn't see on a daily basis.

As the internship was in London, the cost of socialising was rather high but this isn't an issue caused by the internship but a product of the surroundings. Travel costs were also high but that was largely down to me commuting from home and not moving closer for the duration of the internship.

The nightlife in the local area was very good, as you are right in the centre of London and not too far from any sort of socialising or whatever kind of event you would like to go to. The cost is of course an issue but that isn't something that can really be avoided when working in London.

There were some invitations to events outside of work, whether it be away days or leaving drinks or other kind of team activities, but these were relatively limited. However this is largely down to the timing of my internship and I think in general the bank encourages outside activities, and perhaps I would have experienced this had I been there longer.