Summer Analyst Review

The internship was very useful, giving a good experience of the real working environment. It was very insightful having exposure to very senior staff, whilst also working with junior people. Useful and actionable feedback was given throughout the internship, and I learnt a great deal of information and technical skills during the internship.

The work I was tasked with was useful, and would have been completed regardless of whether I was doing the internship - it wasn't just an 'intern project'. I was left to make many decisions independently, and my opinion was valued when discussions were held around the work I was completing.

Support was always available when asked for, but was never overbearing. Guidance and feedback was given throughout the internship, and people were always available and happy to help if you asked. The tasks I was given were very open ended, but if the end goal, bigger picture, or next steps to take were ever unclear, support was always available.

There was never a time when there were no tasks to be completed - the projects I was given were engaging and challenging enough to keep me busy throughout. No requirements were made to work certain hours, and there were no unreasonable deadlines - the deadlines that were established helped to ensure that I always had something to do. There was, however, enough time to socialise with other interns, attend talks and events and do things outside of the project work itself during the days.

A lot of responsibility was given - ownership of the project was pretty much given to me and I had the ability to both influence its direction and scope and make decisions on how to progress. I was also made responsible to present what I had done to senior staff and ensure that what I had produced would be useful in production.

The fast pace and the environment contributed greatly to developing time management, critical thinking and technical skills that will certainly assist in my degree studies and my future career. The experience was invaluable, and although there was little in the way of specific training, simply working on an interesting project, interacting with intelligent colleagues and being in the environment gave me the opportunity to develop a very large range of skills.

The move to the new office was quite exciting - it was quite busy but there were plenty of rooms for meetings, quiet work etc. Generally the atmosphere was quite good

There were lots of events and talks, communications during the internship itself were always very informative and timely, and it felt generally very well organised. There was a slight issue with a trip arranged during the internship but this was rescheduled. HCM were very easy to get a hold of if there were any issues and there were weekly sessions with them organised if you had any questions.

There wasn't a great deal of formal training, but everyone was willing to invest their time in you, if you were simply interested in a particular team and wanted to speak with people on it, or wanted to learn more about a specific technical topic.

It seems like the firm would be a very good place to work, offering great career progressions and personal development opportunities.

Everyone was friendly and there was plenty of time to socialise both with the team and fellow interns, with events arranged by the company, the team and interns themselves.

London is quite expensive, but the salary makes it very manageable.