First Year Summer Intern Review

I’m grateful for my time at the Bank this summer, it has shown me two areas of IT that I now have some understanding of and that I can imagine working in again in future. It has also introduced me to some great people and given me a remarkable amount of access and insight into to one of the countries most prestigious public institutions. From recruitment onwards I cannot imagine a much better internship process.

People are really welcoming throughout the Bank and I found in my area they were keen to listen to my ideas and discuss their experiences with me. The Bank seems to be making a real effort to be more diverse and inclusive, with greater networking and collaboration. I was impressed by the atmosphere and working environment within the Bank and found that it led to me feeling valued. As someone with friends doing unpaid internships I also appreciate that I've been well rewarded for my time.

My managers struck a good balance between providing me with objectives and tasks to carry out and letting me do my own work/plan my time as I saw fit. The Bank seems very supportive of flexible working and I was able to work from home/use flexible working when necessary. I had two performance reviews as well as bilaterals each week with my line manager so that I was clear on what was expected of me.

I was given multiple meetings to attend and a raft of objectives to work on. I think the workload generally struck the right balance, as I was often fairly busy but was also afforded a good work/life balance. As in any workplace there were periods of "downtime" when there was no work from the team but I found these useful for working on my own tasks. There were also a variety of seminars and "lunch and learns" put on to provide a bit more variety.

My work saw me involved in high level meetings where I gained a detailed insight into many of the Bank's systems. I was given real work by both teams with my efforts making a real difference and some of my work seeing use by a head of department. Given that I was only present for six weeks I couldn't have asked for much more responsibility.

I gained insight into two fields I hadn't really studied before (IT Obsolescence and Software management) and learned a lot about how IT is used in a major public organisation. I also learned a great deal about the Bank and its role in the UK economy. I believe that doing a first year internship has been hugely benefical in terms of my career and in comparison with my peers at university, I'd strongly recommend it for anyone coming out of the first year at uni, especially if like me they're looking at doing a placement year.

Far livelier than I expected, similar to what I'd experienced previously in retail. Everyone was very friendly, open plan offices made communication easy and you never felt like you couldn't come over and speak to someone briefly. May have been different in other areas, but my office had had a pleasant working environment.

Overall scheme is well thought out and my placement ran smoothly on the whole, however I know of others who had issues around security clearances and some events/elements of the scheme did feel a little "last minute" at times. Some of the learning lunches and other internship specific related events could have been better utilised I think, often an hour would be set aside and they'd require only a fraction of the time.

Training was offered by my line manager which for a six week internship is pretty great, on the job training from colleagues was really helpful and I got the impression that the company would be willing to invest far more should I join them. Seminars and learning lunches enabled me to learn more about the rest of the organisation and I feel I gained a lot in terms of personal development from the internship as a whole.

In terms of prestige it's hard to better the Bank of England, as already mentioned the working environment is also top notch and the benefits/pay on offer are fairly competitive. I think it's a brilliant place to start out and the graduate scheme is definitely attractive, though I know in London financial circles there are probably even more generous schemes available. In terms of progression/long term career plans, the current pay structure/restrictions on pay increases means moving about might be required, but I think that's common to industry nowadays.

A WhatsApp group was started on the first day and people kept in contact with nights out most weeks and lunches/coffee meets during the day. The social scene was good and definitely helped add to the overall internship experience though it was understood we were all working/not all lived locally and there was no huge pressure to take part either.

London costs, so not cheap. That said, not as bad as I had expected, there are Weatherspoons nearby and pub happy hours for moderately affordable alcohol in the £3.50 a pint region.. In terms of food there's Tesco and Sainsbury's Locals not far away offering cheapish grub. If you're looking for cheap stuff to do that doesn't involve alcohol, there's plenty of parks and museums not far away. For those having to live in the city I gather most of their pay went on expensive short term rents, the Bank could do more to support people coming from further afield.

London nightlife, so pretty great. There's always something to do if you fancy it, from clubs and bars to late openings at aforementioned parks and museums.. Trendy bits of London (Camden, Shoreditch, Hoxton, etc) aren't far and offer all kinds of more unusual things to do. Depends on your work and social circle as to how much you can do, I was fortunate I knowing people locally and having fairly flexible working arrangements.

Given that it was only a six week internship I didn't expect a lot, I gather some on other teams went on away days but mine happened not to have one scheduled while I was there. Plenty of potential for activities in the vicinity as already mentioned and there were some evening socials laid on by the Bank whilst there.