Summer intern Review

The project I was given was not particularly important or interesting, it seemed like it was just doing the things nobody else could be bothered to do. However everybody I met were really nice, I enjoyed the development days, I liked meeting the other interns and graduates and really enjoyed the charity work I could get involved in.

I felt really valued by my colleagues, especially as due to not having much work to do myself I often helped others out with answering customer queries, doing paperwork etc. Everybody was really friendly and helpful and were always happy to help if I had any questions.

There was a lot of support if I had any problems- I had a line manager based in my office and he head of emerging talent was always available by email. Guidance however was pretty low- it seemed like you were meant to see what needed doing in the centre and then create your own project but that meant lots of people ended up doing the more boring tasks nobody else could be bothered to do for weeks on end. There was a basic plan in our handbooks of what we were meant to be doing but that took hardly any time- there was little guidance on what to do with respect to the project.

The project I was given took up only about half of the time I spent at the centre and due to being in an office where everybody else was busy with their own work, I didn't really have anything to do when I ran out of my work. Occasionally I had lots to do, but often If I worked efficiently I would find myself being bored for the rest of the day and finding it hard to keep myself organised. A better organised project giving the opportunity to extend it would have been much better.

I was given a research project to carry out that directly helped the other employees in the centre but it was then up to them to act on it so it wasn't a huge amount of responsibility. However, it's hard to see how much responsibility I could have been given as I didn't know any of the customers and my colleagues had dealt with the same customers for years so knew a lot more about each situation. I was given some additional responsibility during my relationship doing credit queues checking the status of customer accounts every morning and following up if there were any problems.

The days run for all the interns at the start and end of the internship gave us an insight in to the company and future opportunities available there but also teamwork sessions and advice on how to write a CV, interview skills etc. which were useful for future applications and communicating effectively in the workplace. The placement developed my communication skills both with colleagues and clients.

Everybody was really friendly and helpful and were happy to talk to me about their job. When I offered to help them with anything they always thanked me afterwards and made me feel like part of a team. My office was fairly quiet, everyone was pretty busy with their own work. The people in the office weren't the same everyday as often people were out for client meetings or working in different offices.

We were often told we would get information, contracts etc. by a certain date but then we weren't, information often seemed to come late. The development days were well organised.

I learnt a lot about the company and the skills they look for in an employee and there were skill sessions to improve things like teamwork. Mandatory online learning taught me lots about the financial services as well as what went on in my centre, new legislation etc.

I was offered an internship for next year and there is a strong possibility of getting offered a place on a graduate scheme after university in retail or commercial. We were offered information about these. However if you aren't in your final year of university you have to come back every year from your first internship in order to get the graduate scheme place, otherwise you have to apply as an external candidate.

Meeting all the interns at the start of the internship meant we all knew eachother, volunteering days also gave me a chance to get to know people. The London interns organised our own meet-ups after work for drinks etc. and the graduates were also really friendly and organised a bowling event for all the London graduates and interns. I made good friends with several interns and graduates. I also went out with my colleagues for drinks and for lunch on my last day.

I was in London so travel to and from work and socialising after work was expensive, however you can ask for the location you want so this was my choice. Travel to and from the development days and during work (e.g. to customer meetings) can be claimed back on expenses.

Nightlife in London is great- so much choice.

We all had to do a charity fundraising day organised by people on the graduate scheme where we went to visit a guidedog centre and then raised money for the guidedog charity. I was also given the opportunity to do several volunteering days during my placement which were really enjoyable and gave me an oppurtunity to spend time with other interns and talk to them about their experiences.