Intern in Financial Stability Review

I loved the two months I spent at the Bank. The work was interesting, relevant and enjoyably challenging. The working environment and atmosphere were fantastic and rather unique because there was a semi-academic feeling but in a professional context. I was lucky enough to experience lots of other fascinating things which were not directly related to my work, such as a pre-MPC meeting.

My line manager and the other people I worked with closely were extremely supportive and encouraging. I never felt pressurised but I did feel entrusted with responsibility. The feedback I got from my division after giving my presentation was fantastic - I felt that I had made a useful contribution.

The support system was fantastic. My line manager was my 'buddy': his desk was very near mine and we met up for discussions and catch ups of various lengths about twice a day and we were in regular email contact regarding smaller queries etc. We had scheduled meetings in a meeting room once or twice a week. While I felt well guided, I always felt that I was ultimately in control of the direction of my individual projects, particularly as the Internship progressed.

I had a good amount of work to do throughout the placement- I usually worked from about 8.30am until about 5.30/6pm with a 1 hour lunch break. I always took lunch (sometimes going to the gym conveniently located on site). Flexible working hours were very useful and allow you to take longer lunches if you like etc. The last two weeks of the Internship were a little busier though and I worked an hour or so more each day.

I was amazed at the level of responsibility and freedom I was given from the first day. As my strengths/level of experience with various programs etc. became clear, the amount of control I had over my work increased significantly, which was very rewarding.

Although it is a little early to say at the moment, I believe the technical and soft skills I developed and received coaching on during the Internship will be skills I use in my future career, whether working in the public or private sectors. The technical skills I developed relate mainly to finance and not economics because of the division I was working in, so I think that these will be more useful in my career than for my degree studies.

There were lots of interesting work-related discussions going on around the office all the time and as an intern you felt involved in the team's work. The office was open plan but never too loud to distract you from your own work.

The administration was well-handled and the buddy/line manager system was really good as it gave you a first point of call with any queries so you always knew what to do next.

We had presentation skills training and some software training with the opportunity to do more if we needed it.

I would love to work at the Bank in the future and the postgraduate sponsorship scheme definitely interests me.

The interns had lunch together most days and we went out after work once or twice a week. They were a really nice group of people and we will definitely be staying in touch.

Living in London is never cheap but we managed to have fun without breaking the bank.

The advantage of being in central London.

The Bank organised some social nights specifically for the interns and I went out with people from my division a few times as well.