Intern - Administrator Review

The role that I applied for is not what was advertised. as well, the line manager i had did not provide sufficient work for myself, and one of the ARMs in my team were assigning myself the work. Needless to say it has been an experience, the team I was based with were friendly. And were always up to helping myself if I struggled with anything.

During the first few weeks it was a strange experience as I was still wetting my feet, and the team I was with were unsure of my abilities. Now on reflection, the team has warmed to myself, and are in short good people who always took the time out to sort out work for myself.

My Line Manager was rarely in the office I was based in, which made it difficult to gauge how I was progressing. As well, it made it very difficult to get any meaningful work from herself, as the work I was originally assigned was basic admin work that anyone could do.

For the first 7 weeks of the internship I was rarely busy. My work load was laughable, and too often I found myself board and near enough falling asleep at my desk. Thankfully, the last 3 weeks of the internship have been very busy for myself which was a nice change, as I was involved in a project that I feel would make a difference to the team I was interning with.

Due to the nature of the position I was in, I was not given much responsibility. Which was both a blessing and a curse. The former was that I was not stressed out, as it would not be myself taking the responsibility. The latter is that I want to learn, and I feel a bit more responsibility would have achieved that perfect balance.

The skills gained have helped in one aspect. I am now more adept at Excel than I was before I arrived which is a bonus. As my university degree relies on a lot of forward planning. However, beyond that I feel that the role does not translate all that well to my university degree. If I was studying business, the skills gained would be relevant. But alas I am not. As business is more of a hobby than a career interest.

The atmosphere around the office was what you expected from a typical banking office. Fun was had where it needed to be, and the other times it was serious. All in all the office atmosphere was the perfect balance.

The internship was not organised well at all. Many instances it seemed like a monkey was running the operation. Many examples include: - a lot of useless stress surrounding pre-vetting - the challenges were not organised in a coherent manner, they were just thrown at the interns. - my Line Manager did not have any work, or a set-up of what I should be completing during each week of my 10 week internship. - the accommodation provided was poor in short. The staff were okay, but a few of them were very abrasive and rude to myself and other interns. At a couple of points during my stay I was inadvertidly threatened by a staff member that I would have to cover the cost of cleaning up alcohol spillages in the basement, even if I was just doing my washing. And I dropped in to say hi to the other interns. Just because I said hi, apparently that was my responsibility. Also, a lot of my stuff was stolen by other people, as well I lost £30 worth of frozen food due to Liberty Hall's lack of emphasis on ensuring their fridges worked properly. When I and other interns complained, they said that it is not their responsibility. But when it was in their favour, they were all to more than happy to chase you for payment for damages.

The amount of personal training was sufficient. Once again, it was in essence the team I was with that aided my training and development. As my Line Manager works 2 days a week in the office I was based, and 3 days in another location. Which was problematic as it was my Line Manager who is meant to be training myself. Not the other members of my team!

How should I start? There's another restructure going on within the banking group. Meaning less graduate jobs, so no... the employment prospects are far from appealing.

Yes this was probably one of the few highlights of this internship/placement. The interns were more than welcoming, and I found myself quite often going to events with them, such as basketball matches, movies etc. For my colleagues it was nice to be treated on the same level even though they were all my superiors. This made myself feel really valued.

Quite expensive, since my placement was in LONDON!

Never really went out as I had exams to revise for. But when I did it was quite enjoyable.

Yes, there was always something on that provided a nice break from work.