One of our current Accounting and Finance students Khadija Shahid provides an insight into securing and completing her finance internship at BNY.

How did you find and secure your internship? 

I found my internship online. I had been randomly searching internships in Manchester and came across the BNY one. I thought, let’s just apply, I had been applying anywhere at this rate because I just wanted an internship. I wanted the experience. 
 
With BNY I uploaded my CV as no cover letter had been needed. However, there were questions on the application that needed to be answered such as why this internship. I tailored the answers to the company, and this is what I think helped my application stand out.  

In terms of the process there was a telephone interview, a face-to-face interview and an evening where I had got to meet other interns.  

What did your internship involve? 

One huge responsibility of mine had been making an AI robot that worked. I did not know much about AI, but I had the opportunity to learn.  I got to present my AI robot to the big bosses and other staff members. And now it’s in actual production, so that was that was fun. The internship also involved the following points:  

  • Getting to know the company  
  • Understanding the different roles available  
  • Linked in learning and digital learning  
  • Making videos for new staff 
     

What did you learn from doing the internship? 
 
Think carefully about what you want to do as a job role and be more specific as to where you apply. Whilst I enjoyed my role at BNY and they have offered me a graduate scheme, I think I would like to work in an accounting role rather than a finance one. I wish I had been more specific when applying for internships.  

What advice would you give current second years looking for an internship? 

I think networking is so important, especially on Linked In, I am naturally a shy person but reaching out to others via Linked In has been beneficial for me. Also, you need to know what is going on in the outside world, especially within technology such as Microsoft Power BI. I was able to bring this up within my interview and they were impressed that I knew about it.