Summer Student Review

I really enjoyed my time at LCP. Getting experience in an actual working environment was really important to me and I felt like I got that. I liked the atmosphere within the office and the social aspect of being part of the team. I enjoyed the vast majority of work I did (even the SIP updates weren't too bad) however by the end I would have liked to experience a greater variety of work as I just seemed to be doing perf mons all the time.

I felt highly by my colleagues. With the exception of maybe the first week, the vast majority of the time I felt the work I was able to do for them was a genuine help and I was not a nuisance just hanging around that they had to entertain. In general I didn't feel as though I was treated any differently to any other member of the team.

The guidance and support was excellent, often to the point where I would even have to say that I probably am ok to work this out by myself. The buddy system worked really well (not sure if that was just because I had a very good buddy though); he really made an effort to ensure that I always had work to do and that I got the right amount of support with regard to the projects I was given.

The only time I was left twiddling my thumbs was in the first few days after the training sessions had finished but before people started giving me client work. There were occasions where I did have a lot on my plate and stayed in the office later than I probably should have been, but this mainly because I need to learn to say no to people who ask if I can do work. As an intern I didn't want to ever say no to anyone. I wasn't pressured by people to meet unreasonable deadlines. What I would say was that although the training projects where of course excellent from a learning perspective (the first project especially was a very steep learning curve) and kept me busy when I had little to no client work on, the fact that we had to do 5 in 6 weeks meant that often they were occasionally slightly rushed and an afterthought at times.

I was given actual client work on a regular basis. Of course all my work was closely checked, but that is to be expected. The fact that I was able to sit in on an actual research meeting with a potential manager was pretty cool and definitely a highlight.

Coming into the internship, I knew pretty much nothing about the world of investment. I still know pretty much nothing but infinitely more than when I started. Other than investment content, the main thing I think I learnt was better communication and planning skills. In the past for example, I may sometimes wait several days before replying email, however that is clearly not acceptable in a working environment. Also, in a working environment I was forced to adapt to the changing expectations and schedules of other people (while at uni I just have deadlines and I can structure my working day however I like). It is these sort of habits that I will look take forward. Finally, the fact that I can't take my work home with me was a nice as it forced me to get my work done in a set period of time. At uni, I often have this "I can put this off to the evening" sort of mentality.

Excellent atmosphere, the social aspect was very good. I especially enjoyed the wobble. Slightly better atmosphere downstairs than upstairs, mainly because investment have their own little section of the office which they can use to create a nice community. I sort of regret now not going to the company party, knowing the fun atmosphere around the office.

On occasions I felt as though the intern tasks I was given could have been spread out better. Often I found I was having to work on a few at once while at other times I had no tasks. Other than that, I always felt I had work to do and

A lot. People were always looking to give me advice and training. The company clearly spent a lot of time developing the training tasks, and I was especially impressed at the amount of time senior members of staff would give you, turning up to your presentations, asking you to do work for them etc.

Pretty good. A large number of those working their seemed to have been interns themselves, suggesting a good pathway and their was a clear paths moving up the ladder of where you from analyst to associate consultant etc. I liked the fact that they were very clear about the steps would be moving forward from the internship.

Generally pretty good. Played a lot of table tennis.

High, Winchester is pricey

It's Winchester...

In general yes but often these would be organised on a more informal basis so at times you didn't really know there were going on. If I was there full time, I would definitely look to try and get involved more.