Summer Intern -Digital Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my internship. The people are so friendly and happy to help. I did not feel like I was working for a strict corporate bank and I certainly didn't feel like an intern. I wasn't given menial tasks, I was given a lot of responsibility and I got fully involved in many projects.

My colleagues didn't treat me like an intern. They were happy to help me, provide feedback and support all of my assignments and tasks that I was set by early careers. They all took an interest in me and my strengths and I was more than happy to help them on their tasks where I could. I was part of a small team who, by the end of the internship, became my friends.

My manager was so helpful in providing me with support and feedback. She couldn't do enough to ensure I was working on my personal development the whole time and she supported me with everything I wanted to do. We had weekly 1:1's and she took an active interest in my wellbeing and performance. It was nice to have a manager that I felt I could discuss anything with and someone who seemed genuinely pleased to have an intern helping on projects. I didn't feel like she was testing me, it felt as though she wanted me to do well and make the most of the internship. Her input definitely made my experience the best.

I was as busy as I wanted to be. If I didn't have much to do I could easily ask for more work. I was given a variety of tasks of differing priority that I could pick up do whenever. As the internship went on, I felt more confident and capable to take on more tasks and responsibility. I learnt that there is always something to do, you just have to ask for it. People like getting help, even if its proof reading documents or emails or supporting them. It is important to ask for it and ask for feedback as a result of it.

Again, I was given as much responsibility as I wanted. No one was there to catch me out, if I didn't feel I could do a task I didn't do it. But if I thought there was a task perfect for me, I would jump on it and ask to be involved straight away - people rarely say no to this. Working in an agile, change ready environment, the responsibility you have can change quickly. Some weeks might be busy and some might be a bit quieter. The important thing is to communicate with your manager(s) to let them know if your workload is too little/too much. I did this and as a result had as much responsibility as I could comfortably handle.

The skills you learn in this role are unforgettable. Even things such as networking are going to prove to be so useful when I go back to uni and attend careers fair etc. I had a training session about Confidence and I would say this has been the most insightful. It taught me a lot about myself and what I am like, which I think is very useful for my future endeavours.

In digital, the atmosphere is great. It is chilled and casual, but everyone is clearly working hard. You are given a lot of trust to complete your tasks without constant supervision, which gives some autonomy to the way in which the tasks are carried out. I liked this as it allowed me to show my initiative. We often had demos of products with beers and pizza, which was a great way to get to know people in the office - not your classic bank atmosphere.

There was constant support from early careers and plenty of people to contact if you needed it. My manager had everything ready for me when I arrived and it was all very well organised. However, as interns we were not given much advice on things like pay and tax. A general overview was given in the induction, but not specific for offices. I did not know when I was getting paid, how much or if I was paying enough/too much tax! I had to seek external advice for this, it would've been good to have someone provide this within the company - since we are a bank!

I was surprised at the amount the company invested in me. My manager was keen to get me involved in travelling to meetings, attending software specific workshops and learn as much as possible. This is something some managers might not see much point to as we are only here for ten weeks. But my manager involved me in as much as she possibly could.

The stats for interns who go on to receive a grad scheme offer are very good - I think like 82% or something. You get to skip the difficult tests for this and go straight to the interview which I think is a great incentive for performing well during the internship.

This depends, in my opinion, on what area you work in. Many events are in London and the bank wont subsidise your travel for social events with the Graduate Council. I was in Bristol, we had Bristol Young Professionals which is a great way to meet other young people from other firms in the area. The grad council in Bristol didn't seem to have much budget for events. We had a 'welcome drinks event' for 10+ of grads and interns but the Grads were given a budget of something like £150 to organise this, which is more of a 'welcome drink event' than welcome drinks...

I commuted to Bristol so cheap. A few interns found accommodation here for the summer and said it was reasonably priced. Socialising is quite expensive in Bristol but your wages will cover it. At some events with Bristol Young Professionals you might get 1 free drink or something so worth attending these if you want to save money.

Great but again this depends where you work. I also think it depends on the friends you make. I was quite lucky so had plenty of opportunity to go out. Best to make use of groups like BYP who do all the organising for you and arrange events in the city.

Yes, if you work in London. We had a few in Bristol (annual charity netball match) but that was probably it. A lot of people work late in some departments so the only activity you might get involved with is after work drinks! Or socialising with your team over lunch.