INTERN DIARY: Damn! I HAVE BEEN MOVED BACK TO RISK

As if the early start on Monday morning wasn't bad enough, I was greeted with an email from the HR lady which said that from Tuesday I would be moving back to the Risk desk to complete the project I was given in the first week

Aaargh. Feeling slightly down, I put on a brave face and went round the sales guys on my current desk asking for some final work. I ended up getting an identical task to my previous one, as one of the sales guys had overheard the praise I got for it and decided he could do with me completing the same job for his desk.

So this time, with much more confidence, I set about fiddling with my Excel spreadsheet and completing the task he set me. I have to say that I was quite impressed by how quickly I had picked up the hang of using the software, and mentally set myself the challenge of not using the mouse on this exercise. (Basically, anyone who has worked in an investment bank for some time uses Excel so much that they eventually end up solely using the keyboard and don't have the need for a mouse as they know all the keyboard shortcuts.)

At some point during the week an email was sent around asking if anyone wanted to play in the bank's football team the week after. Sensing a potential networking opportunity and despite the fact that my football skills are on a par with Arnold Schwarzenegger's ability to run the 1,500m, I signed up.

Come Wednesday morning, I arrived at the risk desk where things were - surprisingly - interesting. I was informed that due to certain events in the market, an imminent deal would potentially be going through in the next couple of days, and that it was up to me to form an Excel model of this.

With the thought of having direct value added, I was extremely enthusiastic about the work this time. I was on my own on this task, literally. The analyst was too busy to even answer a simple yes/no question and with the orders straight from my MD to get the work done ASAP I was a bit stressed.

By the time Friday came, I was worried not only about whether I'd finish the work for the upcoming deal, but whether I'd potentially collapse during my first football match for the bank on Tuesday. It was not the best of weeks.