Associate Review

I really enjoyed my 10 weeks working at the FCA. Working on a market study meant I had good exposure to a main financial industry (insurance broking) and so I could learn a lot of transferable skills. I thought the atmosphere was really good, with everyone being friendly and keen to chat about anything whilst I really got on well with the other interns. Also, the work-life balance is excellent.

I think the project I was given was very useful for other people in my team and so I was relied upon quite heavily, meaning my colleagues valued my input into certain issues. I got on well with the younger members of my team and I think they enjoyed me being part of the team.

My manager was useful at giving me development points at the end, however he was extremely busy at times and I think I didn't take the opportunity to chat to him as much as I should. However, the supervisor of my specific project within the team supported me well and we would have daily catch ups to check on my work and for me to ask any questions if I was struggling with something.

As I was given my own project I was kept busy mostly all of the time, unless I was waiting for a code to run on my laptop. At the beginning there wasn't much to do as I was settling in and waiting for my own laptop, so I was just reading documents for a while.

I was given my own project so there was a lot of responsibility placed on me to get my work completed in time and to present my findings to the team. I was also given the responsibility of contacting brokers, which I believe helped to develop my formal communication skills.

I think that spending most of my day on excel and stata will definitely help me with the future, as I will be looking to go into a job which is expected to handle a lot of data. Also, it will help me for my dissertation next year as I will be collecting and analysing data then.

Everyone was really friendly in the office and keen to chat about their experiences in the FCA and before the FCA. I got on well with the other interns and members of my team, so it wasn't just constantly work related chat which was nice to have a break from that once in a while.

I think it was quite well organised once I had arrived at the FCA, with the training at the beginning being useful and then a smooth transition into my team. However, there were some issues with providing the necessary information to the FCA before we joined, and then I wasn't sure who my line manager or what my team would be until the last day of training when we moved to our teams which was a bit disconcerting at the beginning.

The 2.5 day training at the beginning was very useful to learn about the FCA and how we were expected to behave in an office with training such as tone of voice. During the internship I had regular catch ups with my manager to chat about my objectives and development goals. Also, I had specific training in how a market study works which was very useful.

I think that I would likely be offered a place on the graduate programme as long as I have not messed something up completely! I would be very happy to take the offer as I believe the graduate job will help me to develop my skills and general understanding of the finance industry further,

Yes there was plenty of opportunities to go out with the other interns most weeks, with people being keen to grab a drink after work and chat about what they're doing and other general things. I don't think I went out with my team as much as I would have liked although this is understandable as it seemed like they all had different interests/backgrounds.

Renting a flat in Mile End for 10 weeks was quite expensive, although I was very happy with the accommodation as it was in a perfect location and it was very modern. Cost of socialising was quite expensive, although as a student at Nottingham it's quite a biased opinion and the prices in London was expected.

There were plenty of good pubs and bars in Stratford/Hackney Wick area although I haven't been to any clubs around the office so don't know too much about that. The bars were reasonably priced and had good atmospheres so they were good places to go after work. In Canary Wharf I didn't really go out due to the price and I don't think theres much of a clubbing scene for obvious reasons.

It was quite hard to join a club to play football for example as it was only 10 weeks and during the summer. However, I think there are plenty of opportunities once you are working full time at the FCA. The Volunteering day was good fun and it was nice to give something back to the community.