Technology Summer Internship Review

The internship at Citi was a fantastic experience which entailed working on an independent project within an assigned team. The internship featured many talks, networking and social events for interns and everyone at Citi were always so helpful! It was really nice to see a work-life balance being maintained by employees in a range of departments.

The team I was placed in consisted of only two employees and so when I joined, I really felt valued and recognised. Whenever, I had completed a task/project or updated on my progress, I was praised for what I had done well and given excellent constructive feedback. I really felt like the team paid attention to how I was faring throughout the internship experience.

Throughout the internship, my team manager and colleague were easy to talk and I was comfortable with asking them help on how to use certain tools or start my project. Weekly catch-ups were scheduled so the team were always up to date on how I was progressing personally and within the project.

Most of my days were reasonably busy with meetings and talks organised by HR scheduled in. However, Citi really encourages its employees to maintain a work-life balance so most of my days began at around 9am and finished around 5.30/6pm. Daily, I would improve my programming skills through the use of Udemy online courses.

I was given a reasonable amount of responsibility during my internship as I was assigned an independent project which I worked on throughout the whole of the 10 weeks. Additionally, we had flexible schedule and working hours on the whole so we had responsibility as interns to manage our time.

Over the course of the internship, I developed my programming, presentation and team-working skills. Programming skills can be directly applied to a technical/STEM degree and presentation/team-working skills will help throughout life when presenting in front of managers/clients or working in large global teams where communication is key for the project to meet deadlines.

The general atmosphere in the office was calm and stress-free with most people conversing and collaborating on various projects. Employees were really friendly & approachable and senior managers would try and interact with the interns when they can to break down the 'seniority barrier'. Employees would try and get the interns involved in activities and conversations which was really nice.

There were all-day training sessions hosted by an external company which revolved around personal development which was a great experience. Additionally, there were networking sessions which helped improve communication skills. Finally, there were talks to increase knowledge in certain asset classes and products. You could also complete online Udemy courses to develop skills in specialist areas.

The cost of living can be reasonably high as the Citi offices are based in Canary Wharf. However, there are certain areas in London and around Canary Wharf which may be cheaper. Cost of socialising will also come at a premium but most of the nearby restaurant and bars are fantastic value for money.

Citi has many clubs and activities that all employees, including interns, are encouraged to join and participate in. These range from orchestra to charity fun-runs which can easily be found through the internal Citi website. You are also encouraged to setup your own society or club if it doesn't exist already.