Summer Analyst Review

The company and internship were both unbelievably welcoming. I enjoyed work in the bank and the culture of the bank itself, and the other interns recruited were nice. The internship was structured with just the right amount of training and work on the desk, and the two rotations gave a nice insight into CIB.

I was given exciting and challenging work by a range of colleagues outside of my immediate desk. Obviously, I made a lot of pitch books, updated slides, and made databases however whenever I did this, I was told exactly why and how these tasks were relevant and fit in with the deal process. My time was valued - meetings with senior management would never be rushed and were undertaken enthusiastically. Instead of just having coffees, many departments arranged product training outside of HR's remit showing their product enthusiasm.

We were given a whole week's training supplemented by additional training, business speaker sessions, and a mandate to seek out senior management and ask them questions about the organisation and their products. Our evaluation procedure through two rotations was comprehensive and mimicked the professional evaluation procedure meaning that we could develop like an actual employee.

I took on a lot of work and so was fairly busy during my days. I stayed late a fair amount however whenever I did, I never felt pressured and wished to do so to ensure that I would have capacity the next day. I did a range of exciting work which made it a nice busy, although at times (especially at around 6pm), deadlines could be a bit stressful!

I was given a lot of responsibility when designing slides, especially if they were for internal use. When giving commentary about markets I would ask the relevant experts although I could talk to them about my own opinions. By the end, some of my work was sent directly to clients (after a lot of checking).

I completed this internship after my final year of university however it used many of the skills which I have developed over my university life. One way to differentiate yourself as a junior is to be good at excel and data processing which I did well. I had extensive presentation training which complemented my own presentation skills in a professional (and so slightly different) setting. I also learnt to network effectively which I will continue to do.

The general atmosphere was friendly. Having previously interned in software engineering, it surprised me when an email was sent out introducing me and individually the whole office came up to say hi. On a wider scale, the bank is very friendly - I made many friends just at the coffee machine and senior staff who recognised my face from the office would often buy me a pint at the pub after work. Obviously, we were also there to work but the work was fun due to the general atmosphere.

The internship was well organised by HR. It came about as a merging of two internships on the securities side and the bank side and at times felt very securities oriented at training and for the business speaker sessions. However, socials were fun, HR dealt with queries quickly and informatively, and overall the internship was run very well.

The company gave a whole week of training and arranged many speaker sessions. On my coverage rotation, we had daily training in a product to build our network around the bank and introduce us to many of the products that the bank had to offer. I was given a formalised development schedule and both my bosses took time out to help craft it at the start of my rotation and evaluate it at the end.

The graduate scheme looks very exciting and I would want to work in such a friendly and non-hierarchical environment going forward.

The placement students were very sociable and there were more than 20 students making . Even though the securities students worked very different hours, we often all ended up in the pub on a Thursday or Friday. I also ended up socialising a lot with other colleagues in the bank who were very friendly and didn't mind chatting to interns over a pint. There were also two socials arranged by HR.

The cost of living and socialising in central London is very high.

The pub opposite, the Rack, is a hellhole but one which I immediately liked and seemed to contain the entire bank on a Thursday evening. The social scene outside the office was extremely good. There were a few good corporate events that I managed to get invited to which often precluded a night out.

I took part in the innovation labs while at the bank. There were CSR days on offer although I didn't go as I had other projects. Interns were welcome at a range of corporate events and initiatives in the bank and hence we could take part in non work activities.