CMB Summer Internship Review

The internship, despite being virtual, surprised me especially in regard to the depth of experience I was exposed to. Each day was different and learned me something new. The type of work I received was challenging but manageable and taught me resilience and critical thinking. The internship was a well-rounded development journey.

Colleagues were always happy to help and answer any of my pressing questions. I felt welcomed and although just for a couple of weeks, I felt like a true member of the team. This friendly attitude was not just portrayed by my close colleagues but also by the wider group, regardless of seniority. The work I've done, despite being really insignificant, was always appreciated and I received valuable feedback on many occasions.

The virtual aspect of the internship meant that a lot of the learning had to be done independently. Nevertheless, the quality of support provided by my manager was excellent. His patience and willingness to teach guided me throughout my journey and I was able to progress quite well. Any sort of independent work or learning was always discussed with my manager and I had the opportunity to ask clarifying questions.

There were days when I had back-to-back meetings with a little time to do any placement work which caused my stress at times. However, I also had more relaxed days when I was able to catch up on any missing work. My line manager has done a good job in balancing my work so that I was challenged to a manageable extent.

The amount of responsibility was equal to the knowledge and skills I possessed. The type of work I was given varied in importance. However, because of my low industry knowledge at the beginning, the internship was focused more on learning than actual productive work. I was positively surprised to see that my analyses were being used to support money applications and that my work was being utilised by my team.

The internship was done virtually so there I couldn't really gauge the office spirit. However, from the team dynamics, I could tell that there was a sense of camaraderie between the colleagues that extended outside the office as well. Some of my colleagues were doing triathlons together. I felt very comfortable among my colleagues, who treated each other with respect and kindness.

The internship was organized to an excellent standard. Despite the virtual aspect, the internship team have done an excellent job in connecting the interns, organising social events and making all the induction sessions interactive and fun. Their effort pre-internship made the whole onboarding process very smooth and I felt ready when I started the internship.

Whether it was Weekly Internship Milestones or Internship Development Day, I felt like I'm learning so much about myself, my style of work and areas of improvement. I felt like the bank truly cares about my personal progress and wants me to be a happy and confident individual. Dedicating a whole day to personal sustainability positively surprised me and I felt like the bank really invested in my future.

I thoroughly enjoyed the internship and I'm definitely considering the Graduate Programme,

There were events happening almost every day (partly because of the charity challenge) organized by interns. This allowed us to really get to know each other as a cohort and form some strong bonds with each other.

Working from home - I lived with my parents so no cost of living.

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We had multiple projects outside the placement work that allowed us to interact with other interns and explore different areas: - Volunteering for HSBC Kids Camp - #GROW challenge, raising money for Sue Ryder as a team project - Internship Project dedicated to Diversity & Inclusion