Investment Banking Summer Analyst at Royal Bank of Canada

Thoroughly enjoyed my internship at RBC. My team were fantastic and made the experience a lot more enjoyable than I thought it would be. It was easy to learn from them - as long as you work hard. HR did a great job of organising the program and had some very fun intern events throughout.

I would say I felt reasonably well valued for the position I was in. You have to remember as an intern you are not going to come in and add significant value - the experience is a learning curve. Therefore, as long as you are putting your self out there to do the hard yards and learn the basics, you should gain a sense of feeling valued.

Personally the support in my team was fantastic. I spread my stupid (FYI very little is perceived as stupid from an intern) questions among some very helpful grads who were recently in my shoes. I also had multiple 1-on-1 sessions with senior MDs on concepts I had not come across (however you have to be smart about how you approach this) which was great.

Despite the internship being held during the quieter summer months, I managed to get staffed on some deals which kept me busy. Working in a product team generally meant more deal experience at RBC which meant I generally had more to do during the day, compared to some sector teams who have an afternoon lull before late evenings. I preferred this as it makes the IB hours more bearable.

I was fortunate to be given a relatively high amount of responsibility during my internship. With Analysts/Associates dipping in an out of holidays, the deal I was staffed on lasted the majority of the internship and during the last couple of weeks I more or less held the pen for the documentation. Although this maybe wasn’t very common - be confident and accurate and you will gain responsibility.

I wouldn’t say the on the job skills assist with your degree (maybe some of the training if you are doing finance/accounting). However if you are pursuing a career in finance (buy or sell-side), these skills are directly relevant. As a junior banker there is obviously far more admin and grunt work. However, this makes you incredibly proficient on a computer and very employable in the future.

My team was very pleasant and generally I would say the office was as well. Some teams had some less pleasant people in the office (IB specific).

Very well organised. Great training and introduction to the program as well as multiple events for events (learning and socialising) - HR did a great job.

Training was very good. 7 days spend on accounting, then into financial modelling, general Microsoft Office suite skills and online data bases (Bloomberg, Cap IQ, Merger Market etc.) - prepped you reasonably well for the internship. Grad scheme extends on this next year with 2 months training in London & Toronto.

RBC as a Europe investment bank is in a good position from a juniors perspective as they have grown significantly over the last 10 years and are continuing to expand business currently. This means that hiring as been increasing recently - so much so that they are moving into a bigger office in 2020.

For investment banking yes - London generally has better hours and the bank (and teams) had various social events put on for staff. Staff also hang out outside of work on the weekends.

London isn’t cheap. But you are working hard and getting paid very well - the small amount of time you have to socialise you can afford it.

Probably some of the best nightlife in the country if you know where to go. However the price of a night out can spiral out of control very quickly.

IB junior bankers don’t have much free time for outside activities. Personally I managed to get some exercise (gym, running and rugby on the weekend) and socialising in when I wasn’t working.