Associate Review

Overall, I thought the internship was good. The development sessions provided by Human Resources, such as the various Lunch & Learns put on, provided a good opportunity to learn other parts of the organisation, and the other interns were all very friendly. However, I was frustrated regarding the department I was allocated and found very little help in trying to move from the team (meaning I had to stick with it throughout the duration of the internship).

My colleagues were great - friendly, supportive, and sociable. I never felt as though I was bothering them with any questions I had, and people from across the organisation were always happy to meet over coffee to discuss the work they did. We had regular socials with the team (like pub drinks) where I got to know them better also.

Initially, it was not entirely clear who my managers were - this was clarified some weeks into the internship. The organisation needs to improve how the internship works to those teams who are receiving an intern, as there often existed much confusion about this. However, managers were always happy to help, provided you sought this.

This was a key area in which I would criticise the internship. There were many occasions where I would have full days with no work - this would happen even after asking each team member for tasks to perform. Browsing the news and reading up about the organisation on the intranet thus had to fill such days. 10 weeks is a significant amount of time to be given work, and the FCA could improve how they structure this internship in this regard.

This varied heavily from day-to-day. Certain days would see me take on a fair amount of responsibility, but as mentioned above, other days I would be struggling to find things to fill my time. I did get some exposure to high-level people in the organisation, however, which was undoubtedly beneficial.

I definitely increased my understanding of politics through a part of the Public Affairs team, especially during an exciting period in British Political History. I picked up a variety of other skills in Outlook, Excel, etc. which should serve to assist me in my degree studies and beyond. Overall, this was a strength of the internship.

The general atmosphere in the office was positive and friendly. People were always open to helping you out with a task, even if they were busy with their own work. The public sector also carries with it a good work - life balance, which many staff appreciated. Activity and flexi-time were encouraged.

I would say that this was not a strength of my experience. Certain aspects of the internship were not clearly communicated to interns or colleagues, such as the internship review stages, and we would often be confused as to whether a lunch and learn session may still be happening or not. Many staff in teams were unaware of the real purpose of the internship, it appeared.

The firm did invest in me somewhat heavily. There were many development session to attend, both with my team and with other interns. Notable was the media training with my team, which was well organized and had a highly engaging speaker who talked about search engine optimization. I learned a lot about the organization overall.

Mostly appealing, however there were a few criticisms of the internship I had (see above) that could have led to a better experience. Namely, communication with interns and managers/staff from those organising the internship could have been better, and I significantly struggled to shadow other departments I was interested in (and received no help in moving to another team).

Yes. I have made many good friends I intend to keep in contact with. All interns were very friendly. We went out together, including to karaoke and other venues, and generally had lots of fun. The socials we organized were great fun, if not a bit expensive being in central london!

Naturally, it is expensive living in London, but Stratford is slightly cheaper it appeared. Although the nearby Westfields shopping centre was expensive, the staff cantine was heavily subsidized and good value for money. The food here was varied and delicious. There were other cheap locations nearby if you knew where to look.

Stratford is a developing area, and lacks many nightlife opportunities. These are likely to arise in the future. There is however a nice rooftop bar and whetherspoons nearby but to go out interns often had to travel to central London. Again, a good part overall to the internship. Something I enjoyed.

Yes, there were many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work. Many people played sports, such as badminton, or got involved in socials or other activities with interns and colleagues. Such activities were well organized and often subsidized, making them quite affordable for all. This was also a great opportunity to meet new people.