Operations Intern Review

This placement served the purpose of broadening my understanding of the Investment Banking scene but I feel I could have better used my previous experience and knowledge; market knowledge was not necessary to the degree I was expecting. However, if you come from a non-finance background this should definately be a plus point!

I felt I was able to add value and materially affect changes in the structure and processes of the team, and department.

There is a strong community feel to the firm, and a Mentoring system is in place to help settle in. I had 1-2-1 meetings with my manager on a weekly basis and feel I was well supported at each turn.

As an intern obviously you will not be busy 100% of the time, certainly towards the start of the placement, however over time I picked up enough to have a constant stream of work.

I reported updates on my project to many people of various levels within the management structure and chaired meetings on updates personally. I was in sole charge of my projects, including timeline and execution and felt like a lot of trust was placed in my abilities.

Along with transferrable skills I would have expected to pick up anywhere I gained a valuable insight into both the company and the industry, along with specific areas of interest I was able to organise training / face-time learning about.

The office was a serious place to work and serious people doing important jobs however the feel was still friendly and managers were always approachable. Alongside this there was a good social scene outside of work.

The distribution of work and responsibitiy was weighted heavily towards the end, as expected I guess, but I feel I could have been pushed to perform better from the first day onwards.

I regularly attended the training sessions that all others on the team did, along with extra training specifically for interns. I was surprised at how much time was spent on helping me understand the processes and environment in which I was working.

I would love to work here as a graduate!

We adopted one of the local bars as our own and could be found in there most nights. Some of the more organised folk also arranged things to do at the weekends.

Don't expect to pay less than £4 for a beer around Canary Wharf, and entry to clunbs is prohibitive, however there are always things to do for free in London (and the cost of living is reflected in the wages offered anyway).

Busy busy London, there's always somewhere to go, and the tube to rely on for a lift home.

Due to the size of the firm there are opportunities for activities of every kind; sports, lifestyle, religion and everything in between. Apparently there's also a strong LGBT society too...