Me and my intern counterparts in the London and Dublin offices having lunch on the roof of the London office during our trip.

After thoroughly enjoying my placement year, I was keen to continue gaining experience over the summer and further my professional development. Therefore, I began searching the universities Career Connect platform for opportunities where I came across an Operations role at BNY Mellon – the world’s largest custodian bank and America’s oldest bank . I undertook more research into the company and also participated in one of the Universities mentorship schemes to prepare myself for working for banking and finance. My mentor had previously worked at BNY Mellon though had now moved to a different bank, though upon joining BNY I learnt many employees actively mentor University of Manchester students. 

During the interview process I learnt more about the company and as they began to know me, they were able to better align me to a role that suited my experience and skills, hence I joined the Relationship Management team. In that role I was able to engage and work with the bank’s clients across Europe, the Middle East and Africa and complete individual projects. Some of my internship highlights include travelling to and working in the London office to meet the CEO of my sector, expanding my network and completing my process improvement project. After an insightful and educational 12 weeks, I was pleased to receive an offer to return in August. 

To prepare for my graduate role, BNY Mellon have issued monthly incoming graduate newsletters and coffee chats via Microsoft teams to offer information, support and answer any questions we have. It has also allowed me to connect with the other graduates. In addition, we will also be connected to our future managers and teams beforehand and be assigned a buddy to have someone we don’t work directly with to talk to.  

It felt rewarding and exciting to receive an offer. As final year exams and assessments commenced, it also felt comforting to have a return offer as it reduced pressure of having to spend time applying to and preparing for other graduate positions. Therefore, I would recommend undertaking work experience before your final year to put you in a better position in your final year. Although the internship or placement may not fit for you long term, it helps many interns make connections to transition to a role or company that is a better fit, you can gain experience across multiple teams and all experience will help better position you in the application process. Before my summer internship, I was not 100% sure what I wanted to do though this helped me to understand that I wanted to work in a client facing position. 

In August I look forward to reconnecting with familiar faces who I have kept in touch with throughout the year and undertaking a rotational placement to gain wider experience in the company. Until then I plan to spend time travelling in Thailand across June and July! 

Written by Freya, current BSc Management student at AMBS

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