Finance Intern Review

As an intern in the Finance Business Performing division, I spent most of my time assisting in internal budgeting and planning. On a day-to-day basis this could involve analysing budget vs. actual numbers, checking unusual transactions with their invoices and communicating with other teams within the business.

As the internship progressed I was given more responsibility, ie. instead of just formatting the information packs, I was able to do the analysis and had responsibility for several different functions within the business.

In terms of hard skills, I have learnt a lot about using Excel in a financial context, as well as several other finance systems. In terms of soft skills, I have improved my networking skills by taking the opportunity to speak to people in other teams that I am interested in.

In terms of early careers, there is so much support given to interns. Almost weekly there will be an external workshop set up to improve a soft skill, or to help with a system that abrdn uses internally. In terms of colleagues, everyone is friendly and helpful, very willing to take the time to explain things to you if you are unsure how to do them, and very understanding, especially towards the interns.

The company has a very casual culture, ie. everyone is very friendly, we have a team meeting every morning with a pub quiz style quiz round etc. Outside of the team, anyone you reach out to will be happy to take the time to speak to you about their role. It is generally a very accepting and friendly place to work.

In terms of the work I was doing, it was not exactly what I see myself doing long-term so I think I could have enjoyed it more if I was in a division more suited to my personal tastes. However, the company culture and my colleagues are so friendly, really couldn't fault them.

Yes