Trading Intern Review

Day-to-day I would work on my main project, shadow the members of my desk, attend lunch and learn sessions and provide the desk with data when needed. Towards the end of the 10 weeks, I would also spend time working on my final presentation, which given in front of the Executive Committee. It is worth noting that although you will learn a great deal about the company, markets and trading, most of your time is spent coding. This is something you should be prepared for, and willing to spend most of your time doing.

Responsibility lies in the completion of your project. You must ensure that the project is reliable and accurate, as the desk will be using information gathered from the project/ the tool you have designed. In my case, I had to ensure that the data being outputted by my model was indeed correct. Sometimes the traders would ask me for specific information ASAP, and so would need to respond quickly, with accurate and reliable data.

I have learned much about energy markets, trading, communications skills and technical skills. I spent most of my time working with Python, allowing me to consolidate knowledge as well as learn new libraries. I also learned much about SQL, as well as database maintenance. Lastly, I learned how to use Power BI.

Throughout the internship, everyone on the desk was very supportive and was always happy to help with explanations, or advice about how to complete tasks. I was given a mentor who was extremely helpful in teaching, guiding and assisting me. At times, the traders would be very busy and so would not always be able to help, however they always endeavoured to follow up with me when they had a spare moment.

Everyone in the office is very friendly and happy to help. During the summer internship, quite a few people are away on holiday so at times can be fairly quiet, however this can also benefit you as people usually have more time for you when is quieter.

I had a great time getting to know everyone on my desk, learning in detail about the functionality and operations of my desk, as well as the function of other departments and desks. I found it very rewarding knowing that what I was designing would actually be used and would benefit the desk, even after I was gone. At times the project can feel quite long and full on, however my desk were very supportive of me doing other things along side my project, such as shadowing what they were doing, as well as working on different smaller tasks.

Yes