Banking Internships

What is a banking internship?

A banking internship is your chance to get stuck in, working on real projects alongside professionals who'll treat you like part of the team.

Here's the best part: you don't need to study finance to do one. Banks are looking for talented students like you who can show they're great communicators and understand how businesses work.

Plus, you have options. Let’s explore three of the main types of banking internships you can choose from:

Banking internships are made to fit around your studies too. They take place during the summer holidays, lasting anywhere between one and four months. A perfect money-earner before you go back to university.

If you’re looking to get a taste of the industry for a shorter duration, an insight scheme or spring week would be perfect.

Why should you do a banking internship?

Wonder why we’re screaming about internships? Here’s how an internship will give you a super start in a banking career.

• Get the inside scoop. You'll see exactly how banks work behind the scenes and discover if this exciting, fast-paced environment is right for you.

• Learn alongside the pros. Work with experienced bankers on real business tasks and see first-hand what skills are needed to thrive in this industry.

• Grow your skills. Your colleagues want to see you win! So, they’ll be on hand to provide valuable feedback that’ll help you find and improve those all-important strengths.

• Find your perfect fit. Banks are HUGE, so there’s lots of room for you to try out different roles and find out where you'll best shine.

• Fast-track your career. Here’s a little secret: Many financial companies use internships to spot talent for their banking graduate schemes. Impress, and you’ll land a job before uni’s over.

Banking Internships in London

London is, in many ways, the heart of banking in the UK. It has two major financial districts. There’s the traditional City of London (an area within London) and the more modern Canary Wharf (home to the second-tallest building in the UK, One Canada Square).

Most of the major players in banking have offices in one or both of these districts. They all offer various-length internships across different departments, with certain financial institutions offering investment banking internships as well.

What about the rest of the UK?

If you’d rather live elsewhere, there are plenty of other cities with a solid financial history and reputation.

Bristol, for instance, has experienced serious growth in the last few years, with many banks choosing to set up a head office there. Leeds is home to over 30 local and international banks, and Glasgow has its very own version of Wall Street with financial institutions such as J.P Morgan, BNP Paribas and The Royal Bank of Scotland.

So, what’s it like to work as a banking intern?

What are off-cycle banking internships?

Missed out on a summer internship? Or want to gain even more experience? An off-cycle internship is perfect for you

These are super popular with the big banks, last between three and six months and are for students in their penultimate or final year of university.

Off-cycle internships are great because they’re typically less competitive, with an easier recruitment process, and take place at different times of the year.

Some employers you can do an off-cycle internship with include;

• Barclays

• Berenberg

• Goldman Sachs

• Morgan Stanley

• UBS.

Ready to learn more? Check out our full guide to off-cycle internships for everything you need to know to land one.

How much do banking interns earn?

Banking internships offer some of the highest salaries you'll find in student work experience, with interns earning over £44,000 pro rata. This is from data given to us by former banking interns who have left a review on our website.

This means you could earn just over £2,000 per month during your internship. That’s pretty impressive for your first step into the industry!

What’s pro-rata, you ask?

Well, let’s say a full-time job pays around £25,000 a year. If you only work half the time, you’ll get half the pay (£12,500). That’s exactly how a pro-rata salary works. As a banking intern, you’ll only work for between one to three months of the year. So you’ll be paid according to your internship length.

How to apply

Banking internships are immensely popular and get filled up very quickly. So it’s best to start applying as early as possible.

Banking internships and spring weeks typically open for applications towards the end of summer, around the same time the university year kicks off (September onwards). Employers are usually swamped with applications, and the most popular programmes are often full by February.

Here’s how you can put together the application to end all applications.

Do your research

It’s 200% worth working at a company in a role you know you’ll enjoy or align with, even if you’re only with them for a short amount of time. Read our intern-written banking internship reviews to find out what it's really like to work for your favourite employer.

Try an insight day

Insights are a fantastic way to gain experience before an internship and see if the industry suits you. You can do most insights in your first year of university.

Search for a role

Higherin has hundreds of banking internship jobs, all waiting to be applied to.

Write a strong CV and cover letter

This will form the basis of every application you make. Always tailor your CV and internship cover letter for each job you apply to.

There’s plenty more where that came from, too! Check out all our application tips below.