Summer Intern Review

I worked on a project team as a business analyst, as part of the change directorate. Our project was focused on enacting a change in the law. As part of this, I interacted with stakeholders and product groups to make sure requirements were documented, communicated thoroughly, and satisfied well. In addition, I worked on ensuring the project had good traceability by creating various trackers to link finished products with the original user stories and high level requirements.

There are a lot of skills required as a business analyst- stakeholder management, product group management, managing workflows and coordinating timelines to ensure as little time is wasted as possible. A big part of this is process mapping, the act of flowcharting processes to create a project plan map that is easy to follow. I coordinated with other, more experienced BAs to improve my skills and overall knowledge of the project, in which communication was key.

Yes - I was put on a working project team, and one of my coworkers was scheduled to leave so I took over some of their work packages. I was also left in charge of the overall BA requirements document, and the BA action list within that - making sure other project BAs completed their tasks by specific deadlines that they and I set together. Again, I created trackers to support traceability within the project, which will be used after I have finished.

A lot. Generally, everybody I spoke to was willing to answer any questions I had, and was very friendly and patient considering I was an intern, with a limited knowledge pool. Specifically, I had plenty of support from my project team, with each member explaining their role within the team very early on. My project manager also gave me a rundown of his career as well as some good advice on how to proceed with mine. That's not to mention all the help provided by the early careers team.

As I mentioned before, everyone I spoke to was friendly and patient, and everyone was willing to explain their role and the wider organisation as a whole, as well as answer any questions that I had. The general atmosphere is a lot less stressful than one might expect, with plenty of emphasis on networking, DEI and overall wellbeing- for example, thr organisation encourages taking an extra hour for your lunch break on Wednesdays to promote wellness.

I enjoyed it very much! The work was challenging whilst not being overwhelming, and I was able to work on social/team building initiatives as well as my standard project work. The culture and the people also made the experience for me - I would never dread coming into work (as i have in previous employment) because there was nothing negative to worry about. The time has passed really quickly, which I think is a testament to how much I enjoyed it.

Yes

I would definitely recommend doing your research before applying - part of the application process involves a fair amount of research, so getting it out of the way earlier makes the process easier. The FCA interviews also place quite a lot of emphasis on the FCA's core values, and the JEDS. Making sure you're able to produce situations which reflect these values is paramount. Aside from that, know that you can pause and take your time answering interview questions.