Financial Analyst Review

My work placement was a great experience

I was a valued member of the team, there was no real distinction between analysts and placement students and we were treated as equal.

The support was very organized. Starting from a lot of sessions and training available (such as excel and power point classes) to weekly meeting with your manager to check on your progress and make sure you have everything you need to really grow in your role.

This varied by the time. When the results were out at the beginning of the month we were quite busy, but in the second half of the month things usually slowed down and you could focus on some projects.

The level of responsibility grew with time. As I became more capable and proved that I can be trusted with more complex tasks I was given more and more opportunities.

It was a good opportunity to apply some of the modelling skills I have learned in my degree in a professional setting. However the main advantage is to gain a professional experience, such as communication skills that could be transferred anywhere you want.

The culture of the organization was really amazing. Everyone is really nice and helpful. Even VPs have their office doors open so you can pop in for a chat.

The placement was well organized with structured roles. Sometimes however the role would change during the year, because of the business needs. This is however very normal, as it's hard to predict what will happen in the organization over a year. Even then the transition is very easy and a good opportunity to learn new things

There was a number of trainings available, such as online tools to learn different platforms and softwares. There were regular classes on technical skills (such as Excel) but also on more professional training i.e. how to manage upwards. All of them were available to placement students. On the other side there were number of opportunities to get involved to develop other skills (such as company presentations, or recruitment)

Placement year is the pipeline for the graduate skim. This is great advantage to have going back to the third year at Uni.

The program is quite small, which makes it more personal. Everyone knew everybody and had time to socialize.

I think London could be quite expensive place, but if you know where to go and are organized you can still have a good time on a budget

Very good

There were number of volunteering opportunities to join as well as different sport events (i.e. cycling to Brighton)