RBS Structured Finance Intern Review
by NatWest Group
This review was submitted over 4 years ago, so some of the information it contains may no longer be relevant.
Rating
-
The Role
2.8
-
The Company
2.5
-
The Culture
2.4
- 1. To what extent did you enjoy your work placement or internship?
- 2. To what extent did you feel valued by your colleagues?
- 3. To what extent were you given support and guidance by management/your supervisor(s)?
- 4. How busy were you on a daily basis?
- 5. How much responsibility were you given during your placement?
- 6. To what extent did/will the skills you developed, and training you received, assist you in your degree studies and beyond?
- 7. What was the general atmosphere in your office?
- 8. How well organised was the overall work placement or internship set up?
- 9. In terms of personal training and development, to what extent did the company or firm invest in you?
- 10. What were the perks on your work placement?
- 11. How appealing are future employment prospects within the organisation?
- 12. Was there a good social scene amongst any fellow placement students/colleagues?
- 13. What was the cost of living and socialising in the area you worked in?
- 14. What was the Nightlife like in the area you worked?
- 15. Were there many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work?
The Role
I decided through the placement that finance probably wasn't for me. Working hours for interns seemed to fluctuate but they could be very long in my opinion (until 8-10pm in the evening), if you enjoyed the placement then that could be fine but given I also had to commute this reduced my overall enjoyment of the internship.
Everyone was very kind and offered time to work through questions if you were stuck or wanted to chat about working in the company. There were also drinks after work some days, a charity sports afternoon and regular sweepstakes to make you feel more at home.
I had regular weekly meetings with my line manager. You were expected to come into the office and work on projects, so some days I didn't talk to my line manager at all and had to use my initiative to complete work I thought was useful for me.
How busy you will be seems to fluctuate a lot depending on what department they were a part of and whose projects you take on. Currently I'm working 8.30-5/6pm without a lunch break but some interns on my desk have worked until 10pm on my desk.
I was given a comfortable amount of responsibility. I felt like the work I was doing was important to the company and taken seriously as it was discussed in meetings with senior MDs and other employees.
Presenting and Networking are the main skills I will take away from this internship. The quantitative skills I hoped to learn haven't really come to fruition. We had brief overviews of the modelling software training but the 4 weeks on the desk is probably too short a time to really practice this kind of skill.
The Company
It was a good friendly atmosphere - people would bring in snacks for everyone but people did tend to work late. I think this put pressure on the interns to do so also.
It was well organised, we had an induction and finding out our line manager and desks rotations was easy.
We had inductions where we learnt about the firm and training on wellbeing.
Company Parties/Events
I've learnt that this sector probably isn't for me so I'm unlikely to want to seek future employment with the company.
The Culture
There were Intern Connect events organised in the evenings and some networking events held at lunchtimes to meet fellow interns.
I commuted to and from work though the socialising scene was about average for London
I didn't attend any nightclubs. Even if I lived in London I would have been too tired for them!
We had quiz nights and sport socials which were all advertised through emails
Details
Internship (1 Month+)
Banking
London
July 2019
