Summer Intern Review

I feel the placement was well planned where it could be despite my placement circumstances (with the South London MME team being moved). The work was challenging but not impossible, and kept me engaged throughout. The extra activities completed, such as the charity project, CSR day, and networking events supplemented this well

My office were fantastic, always having time to help me despite their own busy schedules. I was invited on client meetings, given interesting work to do, and also made to feel valued by helping out on important but maybe less interesting work. The fantastic turn out to my leaving drinks highlighted the effort they all made for me!

Again due to circumstances my line manager had a lot of work on, but it was always possible to put a catch up session in his diary to make sure I had a direction to work towards. Even when he was unavailable I always had other people to turn to

Though there were days at the start where things were quiet, I could fill this gap with e-learnings and it didn't take long for the workload to pick up as I grew to understand my role more. If I needed to find more work I always had people to ask

I was trusted to complete tasks for RDs and compile information for region, without being given anything too overwhelming or creating too much pressure for me to produce results in areas I would not feel confident in doing so

Whilst some of the technical information I've learnt will provide useful for the banking modules in my degree, it is the confidence and networking ability, as well as understanding office culture better, that will be the real takeaways from the role. Hopefully I will go into a line of work in future where I can continue to apply the technical information I have learnt

Everyone was chatty, happy to talk with you during lunch hours and in little breaks from work. Coffee was regularly provided! With it being a small office I feel everyone got to know each other fairly well, which is particularly impressive given that the merger of North and South London MME into the same office happened at the same time I joined, so a lot of people were new to each other

The only issue was the initial placement, though this couldn't really be helped. Originally I was meant to be in Kingston, but with this office closing down there was some confusion over where I'd end up - I was originally told QVS but ended up at Old Street. Otherwise everything ran smoothly with no real problems, particularly in the office itself

Several development days were held, all of which were useful and looked at not just work but also wellbeing. Time was spent in the office for me to develop my skills as well as just help the office themselves

With the internship going well from my perspective, I hope to get on the grad scheme to continue the work I've been doing. From here there seems to be good career progression within the company

It was a challenge being the only intern in my office, but with QVS so close to Old Street there were regular lunch meetings, and the socials for London did a good job in organising events

I lived at home, prices are obviously high in London but affordable places were found so overall it was not a problem

Again it was the same as where I live at home, so not really relevant to the placement

Grad Committees webinar helped highlight any opportunities, and I got involved in Gradmag as well as taking part in the ERG discussion