Deutsche Bank IHAD intern Review

I was a part of the I have a dream programme (IHAD) which was a four week internship with Deutsche Bank. I was placed within the technology division and had the chance to join three different teams. Work included software deployment, data analysis in excel etc. There were also regular talks and class room based learning sessions.

This internship was great in introducing me to working at an investment bank. It was also my first work experience and it was valuable to learn about the corporate world. I developed various soft skills like communication, time management and some hard skills like excel both on the job and with training provided to us.

I found the program quite enjoyable. The different talks by speakers from different divisions of the bank and the training sessions made the internship nice and varied. My department also did a good job of putting me in different teams. This meant that I was learning a range of things in the short amount of time.

Considering I had just finished my A levels, I felt highly valued by the organisation. They had planned the month very well and invested in to us through that week. When joining different teams I felt like I was given interesting tasks rather than jobs that no one else wanted to do.

As mentioned before the program was well structured. Some of the more memorable training sessions were a class room based excel course and a workshop on networking. We also attended talks given at lunch time by employers in different sectors of the bank. I had a mentor and a manager and they were both friendly and supportive.

The tutors for the training courses were quite supportive. I remember getting an excel spreadsheet from the excel based course that had exercises in different aspects of excel. This is a helpful reference material that I used even after the internship. The courses were generally enjoyable and targeted well for our age group.

I had a encouraging manager who I had a few catch ups with, my buddy was also very friendly and supportive. On my birthday the team were nice enough to buy some food and card for me and taking my dietary requirements into considerations. The HR team also did its part in ensuring that we were fitting in well with the teams.

Living in London can be quite expensive however this internship was just after my A levels and it was only a month long so I was not expecting a big salary. They did however, compensate me and it met my costs at the time including travel and lunch etc. We were based in the square mile in London.

As part of the internship a volunteer day was organised. The offices were based in the centre of London so there's a lot to do after work. As a group we would often go out after work. Since it was summer the area was generally abuzz. There were a few table tennis tables near by where we played when free.

Yes

* A European investment bank which is among the top global investment banks * Good name for your CV especially this early in your career * Well organised internship with different educative sessions and a chance to explore the different career paths at an investment bank * Good way to help decided if investment banking is for you without the dreaded pressure and long hours

Make sure you are comfortable talking about investment banking. So as a minimum, know what a investment does. Try and think about what you excel and how that could translate to a successful role in investment banking.This can range from ops, tech or front office. Make sure you communicate clearly and use the STAR format for answering questions.