Diary of an operations intern
As the halfway point of the internship comes and goes our intern gets her project management legs and learns a lot from the arrival of a new senior colleague.
Week Seven
A meeting is missed and an interesting short cut to becoming assistant vice president within a year presents itself....
Monday
A few weeks ago, I'm pleased to say I was elevated to the position of project manager for one of the change requests I'd been documenting. This means I'm required to oversee the testing process and make sure the change gets implemented. Having already put together a testing plan for this issue, I'd thought it would be fine to wait for my colleagues in IT to get back to me and let me know when the testing could begin.
I found out today that it doesn't work quite like that: simply waiting for them to get back to me means they're unlikely to get back at all. The person who made me project manager did warn me that the role meant always staying on top of what was going on, but I'd assumed the bank's machinery would work smoothly without too much intervention from me. After waiting a few weeks for a response I finally accepted this wasn't the case and spent much of today trying to coordinate communication between the operations and IT departments and chivvy IT into action.
Tuesday
As part of my ongoing endeavours to get a testing date from IT, I arranged a meeting with members of the IT department today. They revealed that a technical issue was delaying the testing process and said it needed to be resolved before we could proceed. I was a lot more vocal than in previous meetings with the IT group and felt by the end that I'd regained some control of the situation - I at least knew what was going to happen and when.
Wednesday
Today I was given a new project to work on. One of the streams within our department (Reference Data - the area which manages and administers all client information) had asked for the help of one of the interns in solving a problem. That 'lucky' intern happened to be me. Simon, my contact in Reference Data, scheduled a 30 minute meeting to run me through the issue and what was required. This session was very rushed and provided a very high level overview of the software I'd need to use. As a result there was a lot of information to take in and by the end of the session I was more confused than when I'd started! Perhaps understanding my bewilderment, Simon suggested several follow up sessions before the end of the week.
Thursday
One of Simon's colleagues in Reference Data had arranged a meeting for me and another intern to find out more about a "Leadership Ladder" scheme which is operational at the bank.
The scheme involves a series of two to three week rotations in different areas across the entire bank, conducted over a period of an entire year. Though a very intensive and rigorous program, its benefits were clear - by the end of the year, almost all the participants of the scheme are offered positions at an Assistant Vice President level at the firm. Aside from this, it also provides an excellent networking opportunity across all areas of the bank. I'm definitely keen.
Unfortunately, in all the talk of the "Leadership Ladder", I lost track of time and was 20 minutes late to the governance meeting for the change work (which I was supposed to be in charge of and chair!) Admittedly, this did not seem to go down too well with the rather senior attendees of the meeting and (for once!) I remained rather subdued for the rest of the day.
Friday
Today, I learned the value of experience. Donovan, the new addition to our team, had only been with us since last week and joined after spending six years working for a management consultancy. Yet, in this time, he had already managed to familiarise himself with the firm, its processes and its systems to such a level that he was already taking the lead on one of the key strategic projects of our department. In fact, I'd go as far as saying that he had already surpassed me in terms of knowledge despite being there for a quarter of the time that I had. This was largely down to the fact that he had a formal project management qualification but also due to his prior experience, enabling him to pick things up and digest them a lot easier. At least now I can see why so many employers only want candidates with a certain level of experience; the benefits these candidates can bring are enormous.
Week Six
The arrival of a new senior hire offers an opportunity to sit in on some high-powered induction sessions...
Monday
This week started off on a rather negative note when I was forced to move desks in order to accommodate someone else. Though an understandable decision, given that I would only be there for another five weeks, it meant that I was moving away from people who I got on with really well. My new desk was somewhat quieter and devoid of the friendly banter which had accompanied my previous location. Being in no position to register any protest, I had no choice...
On the positive side, I was involved in testing again today. This time, I was working alongside one of the other interns who'd been using the system on a day to day basis. The arrangement worked rather well as we were able to combine my (albeit relatively limited) experience of testing with his (much greater) experience with the system. As a result, it only took a few hours to get through all the various tests, compared to the whole day previously!
Tuesday
Today we had a new addition to our team! Having spent the past 6 years working for a management consultancy, he joined at an assistant vice president level. This was good news for me, as I was no longer the new kid on the block! (Now I was just the kid...!)
On a more serious note, as he was not recruited internally, a number of sessions were set up to enable him to get familiarised with the firm, its systems and the strategic projects the department is currently working on. Not having had this 'introduction' myself when I joined, I was also invited along to these sessions, enabling me to gain a better understanding of the work I'd been doing and the department in which I was working. In I got to know a lot more people in the IT department and came away with an overview of the firm's systems architecture and an understanding of project management techniques (the new guy has joined as a project leader).
Wednesday
Thanks to the increased pace of my work, my days are passing a lot more quickly. I'm working on various projects (most of which are to do with testing or changes to the IT system), and am learning the difficult art of juggling priorities. The testing project I was assigned on Monday is still at the initiation stage, but we're also have to develop a method of testing a software product which is about to be implemented after being developed by an external company.
Thursday
A dull, grey morning was superbly rescued by an unannounced evacuation drill. As is standard practice with such drills, we weren't allowed to use the lifts to evacuate the building. Hence we all had to drop what we were doing and begin our descent down the 15 flights of stairs which stood between us and the front exit. Unfortunately, the novelty wore off after the first two flights of stairs, with the remaining 13 seeming endless. Then, just as we neared the ground floor, in what can only be called a brilliant piece of timing, it started to rain! Not just lightly, but a random burst of heavy rain!!
(Ok. So I've made it sound more like a terrifying ordeal than what it actually was - a well managed and efficient drill. Nonetheless, it killed half an hour!)
Back in the office, once the excitement of the drill had settled down, I had a meeting with several senior business managers regarding the projects I've been working on. Despite some initial nervousness on my part (given the seniority of the attendees), we eventually managed to prioritise the different change requests - the objective of the meeting, as well as discuss the governance for this work going forward. It was decided that a weekly meeting would be set up to continually review progress.
Friday
The day began with me reviewing and following up on the action points from yesterday's meeting. The hard work which I had put into the testing projects seems to be paying dividends as the project gathers momentum. I've drawn up a 'project charter' detailing its purpose, the business case for the various projects, and their scope etc.
As the week draws to a close, I can truthfully say it's probably been one of the best weeks of the internship so far. I've learnt an enormous amount, largely thanks to the training offered to the new addition to our team, which has left me with a far greater better understanding of where our cog fits in the huge mechanism of the bank.
Week five
It's the week of the dreaded team presentation...and an even more dreaded mid-internship review...
Monday
In a change from the norm, I was out of the office today taking part in a Community Day event. The bank seems to organise these events on a rather frequent basis - as well as enabling them to give something back to the local community around them, they also function as a good team-building exercise for those involved.
For our event we went to Victoria Park in order to do some conservation work (glorified weeding). A large group of around 50 of us took part, and it provided a completely different atmosphere as well as a welcome change to the usual office environment. That said, it was probably more demanding than a usual day at the office.
Though most of us got on with the job almost immediately, as ever there was a group of people who spent most of their time sitting around and relying on others to do the hard work for them - a selfish attitude that frustrated me at times. However, at the end of the day, we were all rewarded for a job well done by a barbeque in the neighbouring park.
Tuesday
After being fairly bored last week I found today that my 'plea' for more work had been answered - perhaps a little too willingly! I began the day with five to six different projects to be working on. Hence I went from one extreme to the other; from having very little to do, I had a lot to do!
At first I began wishing I hadn't asked for more work, yet I soon saw the merits of having done so. Aside from giving me experience on how to prioritise and juggle different pieces of work, I was becoming more and more involved in key business projects and, as a result, developed a fuller understanding about the function of my department. Additionally, now that I've got so much to do I can rarely claim to be bored!
Wednesday
The day of our 'dreaded' presentation! After having only one full practice run the night before, we were all understandably nervous. We managed to squeeze in one further run-through an hour before the presentation was due to start, yet we still felt somewhat under-prepared.
The presentation itself went by rather quickly. We were presenting on how to make our bank an employer of choice for graduates, and covered all the obvious bases (good training programmes, healthy pay packages, opportunities to work abroad).
Despite some hiccups in the middle (such as people forgetting parts of what they were going to say), on the whole it went well. At the end of the presentation when questions were invited, we were given an intense grilling from the audience. After dealing with the barrage of questions rather well, the presentation came to a close.
The feedback we received from our fellow interns was extremely positive. Yet the six of us were rather sceptical as to how genuine this feedback was. Instead, comments from our managers and other employees of the bank were far more insightful when it came to evaluating our performance. On a personal note, I must have done something right as, following the event, I had various VPs asking after me!
Thursday
Today I had a mid-internship review. Having almost reached the middle of my internship programme, it was time to sit down with my manager to discuss my progress thus far. Referring to the objectives form which we filled in the first week, we discussed whether I had begun achieving any of those objectives or not. My manager's assessment was that I was around 40-50% of the way towards achieving what she would expect of me by the end of the internship programme.
The review did feel a bit like being back at school and receiving a report card yet, as my manager explained to me, the whole process of setting objectives and regularly reviewing them was something all employees at the firm go through. In fact, it is the basis upon which benefits and bonuses are awarded.
Friday
After such a hectic week today was surprisingly calm. With so many people out of the office it was a quiet day - in fact all three people from my team were out of the office. In theory at least, I was in charge! (Well...that's the way I thought about it anyway!)
Nonetheless, with so many people missing, the day did seem to drag, with time passing in a painfully slow manner. The only consolation was that it was almost the weekend...
By the end of the week I was quite happy as I was involved with a number of different pieces of work, giving me hands-on experience with 'real' business projects. In fact, the work I will be doing over the next couple of weeks goes far beyond what I expected I would be doing during my internship. In addition, I am also developing my skills (such as communication, organisation and time-management) in the process.
Week four
From the delights of payday to the dullsville that was the project on small change requests...
Monday
In the distant past, at the very start of the internship, we were split into teams of six and told to prepare a presentation on various topics. My team got 'How to become a graduate employer of choice.' Today, we held a team meeting regarding our presentation (which was fast approaching!) with the aim of discussing the progress we'd each made over the weekend.
As someone who likes to be creative and think outside the box, I'd put forward some quirky, imaginative and unusual ideas in order to engage the audience for the duration of the presentation (free smoothies for all etc.). However, the meeting proved a largely frustrating experience, as these ideas were rejected by the rest of my somewhat conservative group and we opted for more obvious things like increasing signing on bonuses and highlighting training opportunities.
I've given numerous presentations before, so was well aware of the need to prioritise the actual structure and delivery of the presentation over the actual content. But I failed to convince my team members of this, so we ended up spending rather too long on what we planned to say, rather than how we planned to say it.
Tuesday
Payday! Today was the day we finally got paid. After three weeks of incredibly hard work it was pleasing to be justly rewarded. Resisting the temptation to go on an immediate spending spree, my mood was more one of satisfaction than excitement (unlike some of the other interns!)
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the mood amongst the interns was better and more positive today, with some displaying renewed drive and enthusiasm. Indeed, aside from the fantastic hands-on experience, the rich financial rewards are strong motivators for undertaking an internship.
Wednesday
Today was dominated by a lecture and a presentation from the bank. The lecture was on credit risk management, and supplemented several earlier ones on market risk management, product control, and clearing and settlements. The presentation addressed 'operational efficiency' and was designed to highlight the fact that very few people knew what this meant. I'm still not sure I do now.
With more and more lecture series events and intern presentations scheduled, the weeks seem to be getting busier and busier. After the bank had made its own presentation, the first intern presentation took place, on diversity. The fantastic effort really set the standard and it was amusing to see several teams meeting in the canteen afterwards in order to revise their plans.
After work I went with a group of interns to play football in a local park.
Thursday
I continued work on the small change request project which had been assigned to me. It entails little else than documenting and prioritising small changes to software which have been requested by people in the bank.
Progress was tediously slow as I was dependent on numerous people to review documents which I had prepared and could not really move forward without their confirmation. This resulted in a somewhat dull and dreary day. I ended up spending more time preparing for our presentation than working on the tasks I'd been given.
In the evening I was privileged to attend a firm-wide talk given by the Rt. Hon. John Major, a former prime minister. Mr. Major was a lively and entertaining speaker who spoke on a variety of topics including politics, leadership and anecdotes from his time in office. I was delighted at being in a position to take advantage of the opportunity to hear such an esteemed speaker and it was already one of the highlights of my internship.
Friday
As my fourth week came to a close I had a largely uneventful day. Not having any meetings to attend meant I was consigned to my desk for much of the day, trying to find ways to keep busy! There's a definite knack to this. It encompasses organising, reorganising and deleting emails from your inbox, having email 'conversations' with friends interning at other banks, reading and re-reading the BBC News pages, and making frequent trips to the canteen in search of coffee.
One thing which has surprised me over the last few weeks is the lack of social interaction between people within a team. I'd expected to find a tight knit group of people who'd go out for lunch together, go out for a drink after work etc. But aside from the occasional team social function, employees don't seem to spend much time with each other outside working hours and appear to ask personal questions just to be polite rather than due to genuine concern. I hope this is specific to my department rather than an observation of the bank and indeed the industry in general.
Anyway, despite a somewhat hectic start to the week, the initial flurry of activity eventually petered out as the end of the week became tiresome and uneventful. It did enable me to spend more and more time working on our team presentation. And after speaking with my manager, I was promised more work in the weeks to come. Though this means I'll be very busy, it does relieve me of the boredom of not having much going on.
Week three
Week three, and our ops intern becomes an official systems tester, is distinctly unimpressed by the 'skills' training she attends, and learns the hard way the need to set clear priorities in work ...
Monday
Now I understand why most people usually dread the thought of Monday mornings! Still tired from a busy weekend, I had somehow to drag myself out of bed and stay focused (and awake!) all day.
I spent the majority of the day continuing with the change request work I began last week. This involved preparing documents and e-mailing them to the relevant people to review. It ultimately led to a rather boring day as I was essentially waiting for my colleagues to get back to me, and had nothing else to do in the meantime.
The highlight of the day was participating in a video conference call with our counterparts in the US and Seoul. This was a valuable experience as it enabled me to gain an understanding of the truly global nature of the organisation.
Tuesday
I was finally given a new task! Before the company can make any changes to their systems, they run a series of tests to ensure that the new system will function correctly. As of today, I was an official tester!
This is usually quite a boring and mundane process but, since it was new to me, I found it interesting and different from the usual change request work. It also had the benefit of being vital to one of the main business projects, so made me feel like I was making a difference and adding value to the firm.
Wednesday
A very busy day! After arriving at my desk at 8.30, I barely had time to check my emails before I was off to another meeting. This was followed by a two-hour "Presentation Skills" session, organised for all the interns in preparation for group presentations which we are due to deliver later in the internship. I could understand the need to have this kind of session, but I have to say that I found the majority of the material basic, and did not really pick up anything new. That said, the session was interactive enough to prevent everyone getting bored.
Unfortunately, the same could not be said for the next one - the first of a series of lectures from senior managers aimed at introducing the interns to all the different areas of the bank. Arriving half an hour late and then continuing on for a further hour, by the time the speaker had finished speaking everyone's minds were more on their stomachs and lunch than Private Wealth Management, the focus of the talk.
Thursday
Another day spent testing. By now I was getting the hang of the process and was making good progress - we aimed to get all the testing done by the end of the week.
In the afternoon I attended a cross-bank intern event hosted by Bank of America, an event that provided an opportunity for the Lord Mayor to welcome all the interns to the City of London. However, the majority of the interns (myself included!) seemed more interested in networking and catching up with their friends than listening to the Mayor's barely audible speech. Free drinks and an opportunity to spend some time out of the office provided an added bonus.
Friday
By Friday I was back to my usual work on the small change requests (after a subtle 'suggestion' from my manager that it was a more important piece of work than the testing which I had spent the majority of the week on). It made me realise that, as an intern, it's difficult to know which piece of work is most important and should be given the highest priority. Clearly this is something that only comes with experience. Nonetheless, I did feel somewhat embarrassed to have failed to recognise the hierarchical pre-eminence of change requests over testing.
Other than that, it was a pretty uneventful day. The mood in the office was somewhat lighter than usual since it was the end of the week, with everyone looking forward to the weekend (and a well earned rest!).
At the end of another exhausting week I felt at least I was becoming increasingly involved with key business projects and felt more of an integral part of my team.
Week two
This week, our operations intern is given her first project - filtering change requests - and discovers the bank is surprisingly supportive of her mistakes.
Monday
Can be summed up in one word - meetings! From nine in the morning until the end of the day, I had six in all. They ranged from meetings about the specific project my team is currently working (see below) on to meetings with people working in other areas of operations (in order to better understand the functions of their specific departments). There was even time for a lunchtime meeting with some of my fellow interns in order to discuss plans for a group presentation assigned to us.
In the midst of the meetings, we were assigned a fairly unexciting project. My department works on implementing changes to the firm's existing software systems, in most cases in order to improve efficiency. While these tend to be in the form of major projects, there are also smaller change requests falling outside of these projects. It is these smaller changes that I have been tasked to coordinate and collate.
In the evening I went out for dinner with a number of the other interns. It was great, and enabled us all to get to know each other a lot better as well as share our experiences of our first week.
Tuesday
Today I felt I'd settled in completely and was starting to get to know my colleagues better, making the work that I was doing all the more enjoyable. I was struck by the revelation that, regardless which area of banking you work in, or indeed which particular bank you work at, there will always be seemingly dull and repetitive tasks to complete. As a result, the culture of the particular bank and the relationships you have with your colleagues make all the difference in terms of the enjoyment and satisfaction you get from your job.
I spent the rest of the day working on the relatively mundane task of reviewing and proof reading documents.
Wednesday
I took the day off to attend my brother's graduation. After spending the past week and a half trying to digest all the information that was being thrown at me, it was actually quite refreshing to have a day off. It also allowed me to catch up on some sleep!!
Thursday
Following my energising break, I arrived at the office today feeling enthused and motivated. I spent the entire day embroiled in the world of change requests, and felt I'd achieved something at the end of it.
Despite some initial confusion and misunderstanding (How do I document the changes? What do I do once the changes have been documented?), the helpfulness (and patience!) of my colleagues was again beneficial. Another thing I noted was how I was not reprimanded for making mistakes - in fact it was almost as if I was expected to make them, which is reassuring.
Friday
I made good progress on the project, managing to analyse information and document around half the necessary changes. I also had a meeting with my manager in order to discuss my internship, what my main tasks and responsibilities would be (more change requests etc.) and also to set some objectives. I was quite impressed by the fact that she seemed to want to ensure that I personally benefit from the internship and for it to be a valuable experience for me (rather than the internship simply being a one-way experience).
By the end of the week, I found I was still enthusiastic and had not yet started to get bored of work that mostly involved analysis and evaluation. I mainly put this down to the fact that I'm enjoying spending time with other interns and because everyone else is a lot more friendly than I'd expected. Yet, after such a hectic and tiring week, I couldn't help but agree with the sign I saw on the noticeboard:
"Smile :-) It's Friday!"
Week one
Joe (not her real name) is an intern in the IT and operations department of a major investment bank. Although she starts the week in some trepidation, a spot of socialising leaves her looking forward to what's coming next.
Monday
Having had the benefit of starting my internship a week later than most people, I'd heard dubious reports from friends at other banks before it even started. In the second week, one said her colleagues were already questioning whether they were 'cut out for investment banking.' So naturally, I approached my first day with great excitement, anticipation and expectation! Indeed, spending 25 minutes trying to find the correct building was a great start....
Once I found the place, the first day was an induction for all interns joining the operations and IT division and provided an opportunity for all of us to get to know each other. As expected, there was a diverse mix of people from universities across the country, however I was surprised (and somewhat pleased!) by the shortage of Oxbridge interns.
We were given a run through of the schedule for the rest of the internship, a tour of the building as well as the usual legal and compliance, professionalism etc. talks. In truth, all this led to what was a necessary, yet rather boring day. However, as one intern noted over lunch, we were being paid a sizeable amount just to hear people talk to us all day.
He did have a point.
Tuesday
Our first day at our desks. The day started well with the discovery that the 'buddy' who'd been assigned to me had resigned the week before. Hopefully not because the thought of being my buddy was too much to bear.
After acquainting myself with my manager and the rest of the department it was time to get settled in. However, no sooner had I done so than I was invited to sit in on my first meeting (which I later came to realise was to be the first of many!) During this meeting, the extensive use of acronyms left me completely confused and I wondered if I would ever understand what anyone was talking about.
They might as well have been talking French (or should that be Italian?).
Wednesday
Another four meetings later and I was finally beginning to understand what was going on! My manager had given me a few tasks to complete and, though I was still somewhat confused as to what exactly it was I needed to do, the rest of my colleagues proved to be extremely helpful.
Thursday
Today was the first day that I felt confident about what I was doing and comfortable in my role. I also began feeling more like part of a team as I got to know everyone a bit better. I left the office feeling really enthused and motivated.
The highlight of the week came in the evening with the first social event of the internship. All the interns from the operations and IT divisions were taken trampolining. This was a fantastic opportunity to get to know each other better in a less formal environment. Despite some initial animosity, by the end of the evening everyone was freely talking to each other. I suspect the free drinks we were served had something to do with that though...
Friday
Today, I was out of the office, taking part in a training course entitled 'Finance for Beginners.' The course was aimed at introducing all the interns to the financial world, investment banks, what their core functions are and how they generate revenue. Given that all the interns were studying such a wide range of disciplines it was understandable that such a session had to be held. However, having already studied a finance subject at university this year I'd already covered the majority of the material. As a result, I found most of the day boring with the notable exception being a session on 'How to read the financial press.' This offered an insight into how to extract useful information from a broadsheet without actually having to read it cover to cover.
After an enjoyable, rewarding and productive week I am actually looking forward to Monday morning for once...!
Keep a look out for other intern diaries in the weeks to come
