Just how worthwhile are summer internship programs in financial services organisations? Working over 40 hours per week appears to be the norm, and interns are expected to be available outside contracted hours. Eventually, only a handful will secure a position at the end of their internship. Is this really necessary for one who is only assailing the early stages of their career? In these challenging times…more than ever.
Despite the brutal sounding nature of this, summer internship programs appear to be worthwhile from an intern perspective. Feedback from interns tells us their internships provides them with second-to-none experience and training, acting as the ultimatum for securing a full-time job when need be. eFinancialCareers also asked interns about skills they acquired during their internship that no text book could have taught them. These include time and stress management, team work, but perhaps more importantly how to interact with clients in a professional setting. One intern also commented: “management and communication skills are key for any team-work based big organisation. Technical expertise is taken as given and every employee has high level of knowledge. Hence the only one way to distinguish yourself is through communication, partnership and leadership.”
Overall, interns express their satisfaction with the level of supervision and guidance they receive, and comment on the sincere efforts made by the companies to ensure the internship programs are of maximum benefit to the interns. One intern comments: “my manager allocated my desk right next to his so he was constantly making sure I was getting on fine and made himself available to answer any questions.”
Evidently, financial services organisations devote and assign adequate training and projects to interns which ultimately provide them with new skills and knowledge specific to the professional financial field. This is undoubtedly of great value to the interns as roles in the industry are increasingly highly specialized, and require a great wealth of knowledge and experience to be successful.
So what’s in it for the employers? On the face of it, companies derive no immediate advantage from their interns’ activities. Training and guiding require time which is a rare commodity in the industry. Yet, identifying and attracting the brightest students is key to any company’s survival and success. Internships give financial services the opportunity to test-drive future talents and see first-hand their true qualities. Eventually, building a pipeline of talented young professionals will give them an edge in this highly competitive industry.
