Finance Intern - Summer Analyst Review

by Bank of England

This review was submitted over 4 years ago, so some of the information it contains may no longer be relevant.

Rating

3.5/5
  • The Role
    3.6
  • The Company
    3.7
  • The Culture
    3.3

    The Role

  • 1. To what extent did you enjoy your work placement or internship?
  • I really enjoyed my internship. I found that there was good variety in my day-to-day work while my team also got me involved in interesting and often external meetings. The Bank is an incredibly interesting place and there are always events and seminars with guest speakers, so if there's something that sounds interesting you can absolutely do that.

    4/5

  • 2. To what extent did you feel valued by your colleagues?
  • I definitely felt valued. I had the opportunity to present my work to a relatively senior level and felt my manager found my work useful. It definitely felt like I wasn't just being given jobs for the sake of it but because they added value, while I was often asked to speak up at meetings and provide updates too.

    4/5

  • 3. To what extent were you given support and guidance by management/your supervisor(s)?
  • My manager did a good job of providing support and guidance. There were formal checkpoints in terms of a mid-internship review and a final review but most support was ad hoc. Often during meetings I would write down things I didn't know about and my manager would happily sit with me for 15 minutes where I could rattle away questions.

    4/5

  • 4. How busy were you on a daily basis?
  • Not very, occasionally new tasks were given that required a quick turn around time but this was rare. Work atmosphere quite slow albeit positive. Long term project may have contributed to this but allowed for a relaxed environment that on the whole was too relaxed and thus did not allow for a huge amount of variety in the tasks being completed.

    3/5

  • 5. How much responsibility were you given during your placement?
  • I was given quite a lot of autonomy and responsibility. My team were happy to bring to external meetings which was very flattering and helped me feel they can confidence in me. Meanwhile, in my projects I had licence to reach out to people and look through documents. I really felt like I was the owner of my work.

    4/5

  • 6. To what extent did/will the skills you developed, and training you received, assist you in your degree studies and beyond?
  • Being able to attend external meetings really helped develop my soft skills as I was able to see how these meetings were carried out and how people communicated. I developed my ability to work with others and collaborate too. I think a huge learning point was around the industry I was covering, where I feel like I developed tangible technical knowledge around industry trends.

    4/5

    The Company

  • 7. What was the general atmosphere in your office?
  • Really good. I was surprised to see how young the atmosphere was, which is the result of having such a large graduate intake. The result of this is a very friendly atmosphere with lots of people speaking frequently. My team would frequently joke around while also getting the work done which made for an enjoyable but rewarding environment.

    5/5

  • 8. How well organised was the overall work placement or internship set up?
  • There was a formal induction with a set mid and final internship review meeting. Other than the one day IT induction there was not much contact with HR but they would always be available with weekly optional drop-in meetings. I thought there was generally clear communication and I always knew what the process was/what was going on.

    4/5

  • 9. In terms of personal training and development, to what extent did the company or firm invest in you?
  • There was good investment. I was able to attend about 4/5 Bank seminars which would be run by experts, while HR set up some insight seminars with different business lines. You get a laptop for the duration of the internship and there is a vast amount of resources available in order to learn. There is an e-learning resource which is actually much better than I've seen at other organisations.

    4/5

  • 10. What were the perks on your work placement?
  • Flexi Time

    Subsidised Canteen

    Sports and Social Club

    Financial Bonus

    Company Parties/Events

    4/5

  • 11. How appealing are future employment prospects within the organisation?
  • Future employment is very appealing. The Bank invests in its staff and the young environment makes it seem like a sustainable place to work. The Bank offer and support a variety of qualifications and accreditations which help your development while the environment is very supportive with a big focus on career skill development.

    4/5

    The Culture

  • 12. Was there a good social scene amongst any fellow placement students/colleagues?
  • There was one HR organised social in the first week which was really great for getting to know the other interns. You typically saw a few 'cliques' forming among groups due to the large class size but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. This resulted in a good amount of socials but nothing too crazy. One thing you see is many interns live with family far-ish away which can make it that not everyone can commit to socials/events.

    4/5

  • 13. What was the cost of living and socialising in the area you worked in?
  • It's London, so expensive living is to be expected. The Bank does have policies that help you out in terms of a subsidised canteen that is incredibly cheap. There are enough chain restaurants/supermarkets near that mean there is usually the option to be cheaper in your spending too. That being said, it can be easy to spend a lot of money if you're not careful.

    2/5

  • 14. What was the Nightlife like in the area you worked?
  • The City of London has a very high amount of bars/pubs in walking distance, with a great deal of variety. Shoreditch is relatively walkable which is another really lively area and both offices are on top of Bank station which is really well connected with the rest of the city. This makes for a very vibrant night scene, if perhaps a bit intimidating for some.

    4/5

  • 15. Were there many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work?
  • Being London means that just about any activity you can think of will be supported in some way. There are plenty of gyms, clubs and societies with a massive amount of events going on all the time. The main issue may be with cost and the fact that London is so big means some things aren't quite as close as you might first think though.

    4/5

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Details

Internship (1 Month+)

Banking

London

August 2018


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