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General Intern Review

at Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)

Internship (1 Month+)

Government, Banking

E20

Review Submitted: August 2021

Overall Rating

4.4 /5

The Overall Rating is the average of all the ratings given in each category. We take those individual ratings and combine them into one final score!

4/5 - Overview of Role
4.5/5 - Skills Development
4.5/5 - Support and Guidance
4.5/5 - Company Culture
4/5 - Overall Experience
5/5 - Future Career Prospects

Overview of Role

Please give an overview of your role and what this involves on a day-to-day basis.
My role in the EU Strategy and Engagement team involved monitoring EU authorities, attending online speaker events and European Parliament hearings, doing research for briefings for senior leadership speeches, assessing EU jurisdictions for their regulation (now Brexit has happened), tracking and logging international supervisory requests and going through European Commission consultations to see who the FCA's allies might be on asset management delegation.
Were you given much responsibility during your placement / internship?
I led my Community Project group, and otherwise was given a lot of independence within my internship and had opportunities to take on responsibility for certain aspects of projects within being managed.
Please rate how meaningful the work you were doing was
4/5

Skills Development

Have you learnt any new skills, or developed your existing skills?
I learnt a lot within my time at the FCA, and honed my already existing research skills and networking and presentation skills. It also felt great to build on specialised knowledge I had learnt at university and gain a greater (and more practical) context of the applications of the EU in finance. My teamwork with my Community Project group also improved my teamwork as we worked towards our final presentation in week 9.
How would you rate the training provided during your experience?
4/5
How would you rate your development of industry-specific skills during the experience?
5/5
How would you rate your development of personal / soft skills during the experience?
4/5
Please rate how these skills have helped you in your career development
5/5

Support and Guidance

How much support and guidance did you receive during your placement / internship?
I had weekly one-on-one's with my line manager, who whenever I had any questions would help guide me or point me in the right direction. I also had opportunities to talk to more senior leadership and whenever I reached out got answers if I was looking for support and guidance.
How would you rate the support and guidance from your line manager?
5/5
How would you rate the support and guidance from the wider team?
4/5

Company Culture

What was the company culture and general atmosphere like?
The company culture was great, (at least in the international department) I found that colleagues and the FCA provided the perfect balance between hard work and enjoyment; I did not often feel stressed during my internship, while still feeling challenged and like I had enough work. The company culture and atmosphere is very friendly, having the public sector feel.
How would you rate the inclusiveness of the culture?
5/5
How would you rate the social opportunities?
3/5
How would you rate the diversity initiatives?
5/5
How would you rate the charity, sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives?
5/5

Overall Experience

To what extent did you enjoy your placement / internship?
I enjoyed my internship at the FCA a lot, even though it was all mostly online which I was disappointed about at first. I got to go into the office towards the end of the internship and this definitely increased my enjoyment of the internship.
Please rate your level of enjoyment on your placement / internship
4/5
Please rate how your experience met your expectations
4/5

Future Career Prospects

Please rate the future employment prospects at Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)
5/5

Recommendations & Advice

Would you recommend Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to a friend?
Yes
What advice would you give to others applying to Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)
Make sure you are applying if you enjoy the work the FCA does and are ready to learn! I was lucky to end up in the department I was most interested in, but the work the FCA does is so broad it is truly a learning experience.
In This Review
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