Top 50 Profiles - HSBC
Student Case Study
University: Sheffield Course: Economics Position: Penultimate Year Internship in Lending Services, Head Office 1st year internship in Corporate Real Estate, Commercial banking London
Sophie Petrie
www.top50.gd/hsbc
How much responsibility were you given during your placements? During both my internships I had been given a fair amount of responsibility and the projects I had been given always had the opportunity to really add value to my departments. My managers always involved me so I could witness how certain processes worked and they really made me feel part of the work they were doing at the time. To what extent did you feel valued by your colleagues? HSBC really makes their interns and graduates feel valued. You have exposure to senior management from very early on and the unusual opportunity to move around within the Bank from department to department or from country to country. The unique point about HSBC to me is that they don’t recruit due to someone’s knowledge base, they recruit you for the type of person you are and then teach you the knowledge you need. Every single employee that I have encountered has been more than happy to help, interested in what I’m doing and always strived to involve me wherever possible. What was the general atmosphere in your office? Having done previous internships in other companies, I cannot speak highly enough of the environment at this organisation. HSBC places a real importance on bringing your whole self to work and they mean it. Everyone is genuinely themselves here, no false pretences or people leaving their jackets on their chair overnight to make it seem like they’re at work at 1am! It was a very happy and friendly environment to work in. In terms of personal training and development, to what extent did the company invest in you? Staff development is top priority for HSBC. Before you start your internship you spend two days at Bricket Wood
(HSBC’s residential training centre), learning about yourself, the Bank and the other interns. Then in your first few days you must complete some mandatory learning which is all highly interactive and informative. There is also the HSBC Business School on the Intranet which gives you the flexibility to tailor your learning and develop in the areas you want to concentrate on in more detail. The first month of my graduate scheme will be spent learning on the GGDP (Group Graduate Development Programme) and during my two years, I will receive full support (funding and study leave) towards gaining the IFS BSc in Banking Management and Practice. Were there many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work? One of the biggest draws of working for HSBC for me, other than the global aspect of the business, is their involvement in charitable work and commitment to environmental issues. Even though I was only there for seven weeks in total this summer, I was given the opportunity to work with fellow interns to organise an event to raise money for KidsCompany – the charity chosen by the Graduate Communities Committee. I was also involved with the Diversity Team within the Global Bank, to encourage gender diversity across the organisation.
“It is great knowing that after all my hard work I have a job waiting for me at the end of university!” - Student from the University of Liverpool “Quote from Student Reviews at RateMyPlacement”
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