ICS Summer Intern (Trading) Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my internship at UBS. I was lucky enough to be placed in two great teams for my two rotations, I made some good friends from the intern class, I had plenty of support throughout, and I enjoyed all of the social events and other challenges that were provided over the nine weeks.

I definitely felt valued by my colleagues on both desks. Over the course of the four weeks on each, I felt like I got to know both teams really well and that I had started to fit in with the dynamic. I felt included at all times, attending meetings and spending time with them after work some days. I also felt like I made a valuable contribution to both desks workwise.

Both of my line managers were incredibly helpful. They were always willing to talk things through with me if I was unsure and I had plenty of guidance for my projects. In fact, everyone I encountered seemed happy to spend time explaining things and listening to me. UBS also provided us with a buddy (someone on the GTP) and a mentor to support us with our personal development.

I was certainly quite busy on a daily basis. Despite the long hours, I was never clock watching as I always had something to do. On top of the project work set by the desks, which was time-consuming on its own, we also had to navigate other internship activities such as the trading game, market wrap-ups and teach-in sessions. Balancing the combination of tasks was challeging in a good way, from which I learnt a lot.

When you sit on a quant trading desk for your internship there is, of course, a limited amount of responsibility that you can be given compared to the daily trading responsibilities and coding capabilities of the desk. With this in mind, I did feel like I was given a decent amount of responsibility. For both of my rotations I was working on projects that the desks would have tackled themselves at some point, so I was definitely doing some useful work.

The skills I have developed will be very useful in assisting me in my degree studies and beyond. I have learnt a basic level of Python, which I will use in my Part III Physics project next year, as well as KDB, which will definitely prove useful when working with large databases. I have also had a chance to develop my presentation, organisational and interpersonal skills, which will undoubtedly assist me in any future career.

The atmosphere on the trading floor is quite a lively one. There is always something happening and it is quite an exciting place to be. On the two desks I was on, I also found that the work didn't seem too high-pressured all the time. There were intense periods but there was also a very friendly atmosphere, with everyone talking to each other throughout the day.

I would say the internship was organised very well. The training in the first week was very useful and throughout the internship there was a diverse set of activities for us to get involved in outside of our rotations. Having two rotations was great - I found seeing two different parts of the business interesting and insightful. There were several other educational activities, such as the trading game where you learnt a lot about the markets, and motivational speeches, with Victoria Pendleton being a personal highlight. Plenty of support was provided throughout and there were also several social events.

The company seemed to invest quite a lot into each individual in terms of personal training and development. The first week of the internship involved a series of speeches and training workshops and these also continued throughout the internship with roughly one event per week. UBS seemed genuinely keen for us to succeed in the internship and for us to get a huge amount out of it. Everyone was given a buddy (someone on the graduate trainging program) and a mentor to help with our personal development and to provide us with support.

The future employment prospects within the organisation are very appealing. I really enjoyed the internship (a lot more than I honestly thought I would coming into it) and there are several positive aspects of working here - the work is interesting and challenging, the people are smart as well as nice and welcoming, I found it easy to switch off at the end of the day, and the hours are manageable to the extent that you can maintain a good work-life balance.

There was a good social scene both within the two teams and amongst my fellow interns. The teams often go for drinks after work and sometimes have team dinners/BBQs. The interns were also generally keen to go out for drinks and there was the occaisonal night out. The social events put on by the company were a great opportunity to see the intern class.

UBS is situated right outside Liverpool Street station so the cost of living and socialising is pretty high. However, jobs like this are well paid so it is definitely manageable. I was living with my dad during my internship so that reduced the costs significantly but it did mean that I had an hour commute in, which wasn't ideal. If I was to do the internship again, I would feel like I could afford to live closer to work.

The nightlife near Liverpool Street is great. Shoreditch is just down the road so there are several trendy bars and clubs to explore nearby. There are also some very nice bars and pubs in Broadgate itself, literally in front of the office. Having all of this so close by was great for post-work drinks.

In the middle of London there are always endless opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work. I found the working hours were sociable enough that you can still do things most evenings, whether that be meeting up with friends and going out for dinner/drinks/something cultural, or going to the gym or exercise classes. There is certainly an abundance of venues.