Pricing Management Intern Review

I enjoyed my placement to a great extent. I like to have a broad knowledge base and this internship taught me a lot of useful information for my future such as: which savings account to get, how to find a good mortgage, and how retail banking works. I enjoyed the culture in my team and everyone was welcoming.

My colleagues were extremely welcoming and made me feel part of the team right from the beginning. They were keen to teach me what I would need to perform well on my placement and were always ready to answer any questions I had. I was given constructive feedback on the work and presentation I was doing.

My supervisors gave me very good guidance in the first week. I was given a chance to meet the team and the first day was spent learning many of the concepts and acronyms I would be dealing with. I was allowed to work independently but I could always get support if needed.

I was quite busy on a daily basis. I had a number of presentations to make and had to present these in front of senior colleagues so they had to be very refined. I also had smaller tasks that I could do if I was not very busy and these occupied the remainder of my time.

I was treated like a member of the team and therefore, like the rest of the team, I had to create papers that would be presented at our biweekly meetings. My colleagues were very interested in the papers I produced and valued the information I was presenting.

My presentation skills improved rapidly as I progressed through my internship. This will assist me in presentations on my degree course. I also improved my excel skills which is also a very useful tool to use on my degree. Presentation and public speaking skills are essential life skills that will assist me far in the future.

My team is very busy and have very tight deadlines, despite this there is a very good culture within the team. Colleagues are happy to help each other out if someone is struggling to meet a deadline and are always ready to share their perspective in a constructive way.

The placement was well organised as the team has a very organised schedule. There was fluidity also provided which was greatly needed as I did not have a finance background so some tasks took longer than originally estimated. I was given the time and help I needed to ensure I understood the work I was doing and the purpose of it.

Interns had to complete mandatory training which were mostly based around keeping yourself and colleagues safe. There were also fraud prevention training and courses on the regulation around banking. However many of these courses were fairly tedious and were not good for personal development. Interns had to complete the intern Charity Challenge for Mental Health UK. This was a good opportunity for personal development as interns had to organise events without any supervision.

Future employment prospects in the company are fairly appealing as I have enjoyed the internship more than expected. The work/life balance is very good and the team culture was also very welcoming. The paths to promotion are also very clear.

There was a good social scene between colleagues and a very good social scene between interns are a majority of the London based interns were living in one accommodation. This gave lots of opportunities to meet new people and socialise.

The cost of living was fairly high as the interns were based in central London. Basic items tend to be very expensive and socialising is even more so. However, as accommodation was paid for and the office was within walking distance of the accommodation, costs were significantly reduced.

Night life around the area was good and it was very easy to travel to other areas as due to good public transport.

The work/life balance on the internship was very good and a lot of time was available to get involved in opportunities outside of work. I regularly had the time to go to the gym and take part in an online programming course.