An internship at a bank is different from the others because of the posh interior of the facilities, the well-structured systems, and the really hardworking colleagues. I was an intern at one of the banks down in Suntec City, the city area of Singapore, for around three months. It was not the toughest internship, but it was an exciting one. And no, toughness does not determine the quality of an internship experience. Some bosses think that if they work you to the bone, it’s actually beneficial to you yourself- that’s a totally wrong concept. It’s about working to the optimum and then giving some room for creativity. That will give a much better benefit to the employee. And when the employee is happy, he will feel motivated to contribute, and would apply self-motivation. There are some employees who would not react to such principles, but the task of a manager then is to identify which are the self-starters and which need pushing.

At the investment bank, my bosses and colleagues were extremely helpful, and allowed me to grow. I would say that the working environment is congenial. Besides that, they incorporate many best practices. There are frequent trainings, little outings to the main headquarters, talks by senior staff on their job scopes and their working lives. The IT systems are very complete and secure, and you can get a feel that the programmers on the IT systems have done a good job at that. Overall, because of the large amounts of infrastructure invested and the various facets of work done, you feel very well taken care of.

To even enter an investment bank as an intern, your grades have to be above average. Another piece of advice, upon entry, focus on the work. Engaging in petty politics is for those who wish to gain power through politics instead of actually adding value to the organisation. Remember, petty politics adds no value to the company you are working for. Thus, if you want to do good for the company and colleagues, produce excellent work which assists other functions of the company or even directly contributes to the bottomline of the company.

The overall congeniality and the motivation of my colleagues helped to make this internship a memorable one.