Commercial Banking Summer Analyst Review

Overall, it was definitely an enjoyable experience for me. I was placed in the Queen Victoria Street office and the office had a great balance of fun and seriousness. People were amazing and they were always there to coach you if needed. I also had lots of opportunity to be a part of the wider intern and graduate communities.

Generally, the colleagues in my team were nice and I think that really made a lot of difference. I had lots of opportunity to work with analysts and RMs around the region as I was in a rather international team. The team in London was also the largest as it was an international business. The friendly environment definitely made me feel welcomed and valued.

I think the support and guidance really depends a lot on who your line manager is. I was placed under a rather senior manager and although the exposure that I had by working with her was great, I did not have much opportunity to actually work with her closely hence the lack in guidance from her. That being said, the entire division that I was in was lovely and everyone was more than happy to help me out if needed.

There were definitely some days when I was quite free and some when I was busy for the entire day so it really depends. That being said, the internship programme was well-structured as all interns were assigned to a particular project to work on. We also had charity project and lots of graduate committees to join/work with.

I was basically working as a part-time analyst as the task and work that I had were definitely not mundane. I definitely felt like the work I did had a real and long lasting impact on the team. The other interns in my team and I were also mainly working on a major project and it was definitely something that was gonna be of much help to the team in the future.

The main skills were probably interpersonal and intrapersonal skills. We were encouraged to network and talk to as many people as possible and that had definitely helped with my communications and networking skills. By joining networking events and having coffee chats, I also had the opportunity to learn about the different divisions in the bank. The internship programme team also held lots of development events to sharpen our intrapersonal skills, which were equally important in a business setting.

The general atmosphere was really great. The size of the office (QVS) that I was in was great as well. People were really nice and amazing and everyone was ready and willing to help out when needed. The atmosphere also had a great balance of casual and formal vibe as most of the employees around were young and lively. The leadership teams also frequently hosted various social events in the office.

Overall, the internship programme was well-structured. There was a good mixture of learning on the job/working in the office and working with the wider intern and graduate communities. The team also encouraged us to actively participate is different activities and set up clear objectives and development plan for the entire internship period. That had definitely helped me in making sure I was on the right track.

The firm definitely heavily invested in the interns. We had a 2 day induction event in the first week and a 1 day development day in the middle of the internship period. There were loads of workshops and training sessions to ensure that we had a good start to the internship programme and potentially in the graduate scheme in the future.

Future employment prospects were definitely appealing. HSBC is a global trade bank with presence literally everywhere in the world. As interns or graduates, we were also encouraged to apply for international placement and further develop ourselves. The career path was also clearly stated at the start of the internship to give us a good overview of the life in HSBC 10 years down the road.

There were definitely a few amazing social events that were hosted by some of the interns that volunteered to be the social leads. They were all fun and it was a great opportunity to meet interns and colleagues from different offices as well as HSBC had a few large offices not just in London and Birmingham, but in other towns as well.

Cost of living was definitely not cheap as the office was located right in the middle of the city. There was a good selection of restaurants and grocery stores to choose from for lunch but they were definitely not cheap as compared to smaller towns in other regions. Socialising was great as there were tons of pubs and restaurants nearby as the area was crowded with lots of offices.

Being placed in the middle of central London, the nightlife around the office was great. The office was near to lots of pubs which was great as well. F&B scene was great and there were tons of activities to do after work. As an intern, there were many nightclubs to choose from for night outs as well.

There were definitely a lot of opportunities to get involved in external activities. We were also encouraged to get involved as much as possible in these activities as well. The graduate committees were all supportive and they encouraged us to help out with the different activities within the wider HSBC community. We were also involved in a charity fundraising event and a CSR day.