Financial Crime Intern Review

I really enjoyed the internship and felt it was a great experience. I was in the Head Office and within my department I was rotated into various roles, which gave me a good insight of how a bank works. The culture was great and was lovely environment to work in and everyone always willing to help.

I felt like a very valued by my colleagues and treated me like a full time employee. They also trained me in the tasks I was going to do and answered any questions I had. They also showed me more difficult cases/tasks too, to broaden my knowledge and made me feel very valued. I was given tasks which a full time employee would do which was great experience and felt like an equal rather than an intern.

I felt my supervisors were all very supportive. If I ever had any problems they were willing to listen and were very understanding. They also allowed me to learn how different teams in the bank worked. By day one was shadowing people and going around to get to know the other members on the team, of which all were willing to help me if I needed it.

Day by day the amount of tasks would various depending on the role I was in. But everyday there was plenty to do. The tasks were usually spread across a team so everyone did as much as they could. There was always something to do, so you were never bored or had nothing to do.

During my placement, I felt I was given lots of responsibility. After my shadowing, I was left to do work as a full time employee. In all the teams I worked in, I was given with the same responsibility. I felt as an intern that they were very generous with the responsibility I was given.

The skills as a whole wont really help my degree except for the odd IT skill. Although the skills I did learn I felt would help me more in a working environment and future careers in a bank. The training I received gave me lots of knowledge of how a bank works but couldn't say that it could be helpful directly to me degree.

The general atmosphere in the office was lovely. Everyone was very friendly and always willing to help. Has a great culture and everyone gets on really well with each other. There were a lot of events to socialise after work and to build connections with other departments in the bank and to broaden my knowledge of the bank and how different departments worked together.

Overall, I felt it was organised well. On day one, I was given a tour of all the departments and what each department did. Throughout my time here everyone in my department knew which team I was with each week and gave me a great insight to the bank as was rotated a few times within my department.

I regards to personal training, I had to do a mandatory training to build my knowledge of the bank. In addition, was given shadowing in each role I was in, to build my personal development and to get a better understanding of what was involved in each role I did and what I needed to do.

Lots of opportunities seem to be opening in the bank especially in Head Office. Although, there is no graduate scheme which I do believe would make the bank more known to other students, there are lots of places opening. There are also lots of roles available and encourage full time employee to try and explore other roles to build their skills and knowledge of the banks and how other departments work too.

There was a lot of interns and lots of other recent graduates. Lots of socials ranging from drinks after work to touch rugby to hockey and 5 aside football. Lots of different events on weekly basis which is nice and a good range so it isn't aimed at one type of person.

As it was a city centre, drinks could be quite expensive, but you do expect that when you work in the city centre. Although, it does depend on what activities you wanted to do and costs varied. Also lots of bars are in walking distance so there is no cost in getting to them and for most sports there was a little cost in transport to get there. But overall considering it was a city it seemed alright cost wise.

The nightlife seemed good from what the other interns told me as I had to commute quite a bit so didn't stay out too long. There are lots of bars around the city centre and plenty to choose from. Bars ranging from old fashion pubs to more fancy cocktail bars. Lots of range in styles and prices which can accommodate anyone.

Yeah lots of opportunities were provided. Have a social committee who plan after work drinks and other socials and monthly emails informing everyone of events going on in the bank and everyone is welcome to come to them and assist with them if they wish. Lots of sport opportunities provided too such as touch rugby, 5 aside football and many more.