Santander Corporate and Commercial Banking Intern Review

I enjoyed the experience very much. I benefitted from a very rounded experience where I got to partake in a wide array of opportunities. I think Santander benefits because it is both a large multinational, but also a smaller UK, banking entity. This meant I got to experience a proper intern scheme with c.60 interns, but also benefitted because I for instance got to sit in on credit committees and meet senior executives within the bank. This exposure to more senior processes and people within the bank made the internship stand out for me, and wasn't something I expected before embarking upon it.

The people and the staff at Santander are arguably the best part of the business. From day 1 I felt welcome within my own team, and never felt like I couldn't approach new people on other teams with questions or queries that I may have had. As an intern I was always learning, and staff at the firm seemed more than willing to devote their time to helping me - often putting aside busy workloads. I honestly cannot recall one negative experience I had with anyone at the bank.

Whilst there wasn't much formal structure to the support and guidance I received, I never felt that the support wasn't there. I always felt comfortable reaching out for help and guidance when needed, and received informal advice and support from a variety of sources. The informal nature of the feedback I received from my manager and supervisors suited my working style - and I personally preferred this to regular sit downs - because it meant that discussions were only held when necessary or warranted. I did receive praise for the work I completed - and pointers for improvement where necessary - on a regular basis. I always felt that, should I have asked for more formal structure to my feedback, my management team would have accommodated this (other interns did indeed do this).

Surprisingly busy, I didn't have many moments where I didn't have anything to do, and even in quieter moments I had a project to undertake in the background which I used to "fill-in" the gaps in my time. I was proactive in finding work, but the workload set was decent and allowed me to go into depth on topics.

I feel that as my internship progressed I began to take on some tasks which really added value to my team. Initially I was updating spread sheets or reading about internal procedures etc... but quickly I was allowed to take on more responsibility. This is what surprised me most; I never expected to be helping review strategy to grow relationship returns, or to meet with CFO's of $multi-million law firms, before starting here.

I cannot comment too much upon this (as of yet). I developed many skills on the internship and some will likely be useful in my final year at university and beyond. For instance, I learnt a great deal more about reading accounts and interpreting financial data, which will very likely come in handy on my degree stream (Economics). Other things I picked up included knowledge of corporate financing facilities, and an improved understanding of industry specifics for the professionals sector (my team dealt with these clients). This knowledge will likely be less relevant in the near future but will serve me well as I look to progress into a career in the banking sector.

The atmosphere in the office was generally quite fun. There was a good mix of banter and everyone (on my team at least) seemed to get on. Staff would often go for after work drinks and socials and spend time together outside of the office as well as in it. The office was quiet on Friday's, as many worked from home. This didn't really benefit the interns but was nice for full-time staff and would be something I would have appreciated had I worked here full-time.

The organisation was ok. There wasn't an awful lot of communication between teams with interns and HR, but this didn't really effect the experiences I had during my internship. In some ways this was a benefit, as I wasn't tied down to certain experiences and was flexible in taking up other opportunities (like meeting with grads in different areas of the bank). I liked the fact the work came from your team and didn't follow a set structure from HR. We did have some "webinars" - effectively Skype calls - organised centrally by HR but I didn't really feel these added much value to me personally, as they seemed more orientated towards the retail banking interns (and I was on the corporate banking internship).

The firm invests a lot in you, simply because not only do they pay your wages (and in some cases expenses), but you take up the time of others who invest themselves in helping you develop, and helping you complete tasks set. The firm was also willing to give you responsibility as I mentioned earlier, I viewed this as an investment of confidence in my abilities, and my learning was greatly accelerated because of this "hands-on" approach.

The bank would be somewhere I would definitely consider returning to work at. I enjoyed my experience and felt like I developed/learnt a lot during my time there. The people and the opportunities I received there were really great, so I would recommend the bank highly as a place to work. There are some drawbacks however. The grad scheme is rotational and requires full geographic mobility, and some internal procedures within the bank could have been slicker.

Yes, the intern group I was in were very social. We regularly went out to drinks and even, on occasion, nights out. I spent a lot of time with the team of interns I was assigned to for a charity project we had to undertake, and would each lunch with some of them everyday.

Expensive. Whilst London represents is a key city if you want to foster a career in financial services, it is very expensive. Our wage in some part reflected this, but as I was relocating to the city this did take a sizeable chunk out of my wage packet. Overall, the higher cost of working in central London is mitigated by the experience. It is a social place to work, and you are never too far from clients, other Santander offices or even social venues.

Great, but as aforementioned, expensive. London is a good night out like any major city, but be prepared to spend far more than you may be used to at uni. You are receiving a wage, but this can easily be "eroded away" in London, particularly for an intern. I found myself not going out so often as I do at university because of the price - but this probably wasn't a bad thing as I was working a far in a far more regimented way.

Not particularly, I undertook charity work, and at one point played in a staff football tournament, but in general there wasn't much going on outside of work apart from casual drinks. This wasn't really much of a concern for me - some days we would finish early which meant I could pursue my own interests outside of work.