Financial Risk Management Intern Review

My experience on work placement has been thoroughly enjoyed, and the knowledge and experiences I now have surpassed my expectations before starting. A placement year is vital in gaining a well-rounded university degree and I now feel more certain in what I want to do after University.

I have always felt very valued by my team and everyone around the office. Obviously as an intern you're not always doing the work that people who have been there for 10 years are doing, however they treat you exactly the same.

I got tremendous support throughout my placement. I have a manager and a mentor who both help me in different ways. I also was trained specifically by another member of my team at the start of my placement which really helped.

My daily work load varies - working in a financial role we work on a quarterly basis so I am busy at quarter ends however here are times where I am less so. I have to be proactive to ensure that I can find work for myself to do.

I have been given a lot of responsibility during my placement. I have my own personal lending authority meaning I can lend money without permission. I also manage my own portfolio of countries and have the ability to talk to partners on my own.

I believe the competencies I have developed on placement will be very useful in my studies. On one side I understand the financial aspect of business much better, but I also understand how to work in a large company and also the importance of culture.

There is a lot of uncertainty in the business and that is sometimes that is reflected in the office atmosphere. However the office has always remained positive through various initiatives on site.

The placement was very well organised. I had specific training with other interns that was focused on understand the company and the business we are in. Then I went through extensive job specific training to prepare me for my role. There was a clear path of what I was doing.

I have always been encouraged to access training materials online to further develop my learning. I have also been given the chance to work outside of my role and look at different business areas and interact with interns on different sites.

The future employment path for someone in my current role are very appealing although fairly limited. The graduate program has huge benefits and learning opportunities however it is very difficult to get onto.

Yes I have become good friends with some of the fellow placement students over the last 12 months working here. We try to arrange social events during the week when we are all free.

I have been working in Manchester so the cost of living and socializing has been affordable. The quality of apartment I was able to afford here was much nicer than previous places I had rented whilst at University down south.

The nightlife in Manchester is really good. There's loads of bars and restaurants and always stuff to do. I lived just outside the city center so I was able to walk or get the tram to virtually anywhere in town.

There were some activities to do with work that were arranged outside of work time however they were limited. It was difficult to get involved in other things outside of work due to not knowing many people in the area.