HSBC Virtual Work Experience (ages 14 - 18) Review

During the work experience, there were a variety of different activities and presentations that we were shown over the 5 day period that it occurred. On average there were 5 different activities a day that focused on a different specialised aspect of the banking world such as Investment banking, Compliance, Commercial banking, Personal branding and Programming. It was mostly presentations but there were some interactive sessions where you could work with peers to create something

From this experience I was able to understand how I could develop a growth mindset - convincing myself to keep trying even after I fail. I also learnt how to work in a group with people who I have never met before to create an end product and present that to an audience of around 120 people. This developed leadership skills and my ability to work with a team

By the second day, the constant barrage of presentations with little audience interaction started to become tedious and it was quite a struggle to stay interested. However, every now and then there would be a session that felt really interactive allowing us to actually put in to action what we have learnt instead of just listening to lectures.

It was very well organised for the most part. There was a timetable given out that laid out every session and what they would be about very clearly. All the sessions started at the time that was promised. The only problem was that whenever we were put into breakout rooms it would be confusing as to what we were doing as there would often be a delay before someone joined to tell us what was going on.

I learnt quite a lot including what benefits those working at HSBC gain, the different types of roles that they offer and what those roles would entail, the values that HSBC upholds and what the interview experience would be like if we attempted to apply to one of the apprenticeship roles.

Although it gave me insight as to what working those roles may feel like, it felt as if I only saw the surface level of what happens as most roles were only given about 2 hours to describe careers that may have spanned decades. However, I do now know that I do not want to apply for a job in Commercial banking.

The whole experience was free so we did not have to worry about any costs in that sense. As it was online, there were no travel costs as we could access it from home. We also did not have to worry about meal costs as we could just eat whatever we had at home.

At the end of every session, there were chances for us to ask questions to the employees and apprentices about their experiences and time at the company. We were also given a mock interview and after the interview we could talk to the interviewer in a 1:1 sort of fashion which was useful as they gave a lot of insight into where we could improve our interview skills.

Yes

HSBC is a very big company so you can have security in the fact that they are trustworthy. The Virtual Work Experience helped me develop quite a lot of new skills that prepared me for the working world and it also allowed me to network with people with lots of experience (and also people my age in the same position I was in)

Make sure that you are confident in your interview, check your emails often and make sure that you always look at the deadlines on the applications so you don't miss anything, keep your contact details up to date, do not stress about it too much and try and apply to the phone interview early so that you get the time you want.