Intern Review

Really enjoyed my internship, I was challenged in my work but also felt very welcome by members of my team. The work I did was very useful for improving my knowledge of the asset class and the market I was working in. The Internship development programme was also useful to structure my internship

I felt highly valued by my colleagues and worked on an individual project which I presented on to my team multiple times, which meant that I was given a great deal of responsibility for the subject area and was able to tackle a relevant subject on my own with assistance from my team.

I was given a lot of support and guidance by my management and supervisors who checked up on me often and gave me a lot of feedback. I also received a lot of help and guidance with projects not only from my supervisor and buddy but from other colleagues on the team when I reached out for assistance.

I was very busy once I got stuck into the work after the first couple of weeks, and it was a steep learning curve so even early on when I had less project work to do I was busy learning a lot of new concepts and using the online courses that they have as part of the Standard Life Academy.

I was given a large degree of responsibility for my own projects, I was obviously not in charge of investment decisions however was able to lead some meetings on my project, and was given a great deal of responsibility in creating a report for a client on my specific project.

The skills I have developed will assist me hugely in my career as they have given me a great insight into the world of asset management and a greater understanding of the technical aspects of the industry. The skills of organisation, compiling data, and summarising my arguments are also useful for my degree work.

The atmosphere in the office was largely positive, with a lot of rapport between colleagues meaning that the team was very chatty and would talk about investment decisions on the desk a lot. Meetings were sometimes heated but this was positive as it meant that everyone was very passionate about their views and debates were interesting.

The internship was well organised with a very structured programme created by HR which meant we had weekly tasks and events to attend including workshops and charity days in order to get to know everyone better and also improve our skills that would help us with our internship presentations at the end of the 10 weeks.

The company invested a lot in me in terms of my skills and development training, we had weekly workshops and the intranet had a number of online exercises to develop our technical skills. I was also given access to the Bloomberg terminal meaning I was able to complete the Bloomberg Market Concepts Course.

Very appealing because it was a very enjoyable place to work, my colleagues were very welcoming and friendly, the workload was stimulating and enjoyable rather than excessive, although it still pushed me which I enjoyed. The company has a very nice office in a very good location which makes it appealing to work for too. I received a job offer with them and will begin working with them next year.

The social scene was good between colleagues and other interns, we had a number of social events and everyone was very friendly. The accommodation was shared with other interns so it was very sociable and we went for drinks after work on a number of occasions. My team were also very welcoming and I was invited to a number of social events with them too.

The cost of living in central London was very high however we had our accommodation paid for which was fantastic. The socialising was expensive however the team were very generous and it was manageable due to the accommodation being free. The area was fantastic for nightlife and things to see and do so it was worth being in a more expensive area.

The nightlife was good in the area I worked during the week however the City is noticeably quieter at weekends, however, this is manageable because where we lived had very good nightlife at the weekends. Living in Central London there is never a shortage of things to do at night.

There were very good opportunities to get involved in a number of activities, there were a number of representative groups that had events and lunchtime talks. I also got involved with the netball team and played every Monday which was very enjoyable and helped me to meet people outside of my team.