Banks offer internships for high school and college students to gain experience and for banks to assess their capabilities. Interns work alongside employees and receive hands-on training, with some programs offering job offers upon completion. High school students can participate in short-term internships for insight into the banking world.
Banking internships are designed to give prospective employees the opportunity to experience the professional environment of working in a bank, while allowing banks to assess their capabilities. Banks around the world offer a variety of different internship programs designed primarily for high school and college students. Some internships expose students to a variety of different positions within the bank, while others are specific to particular bank departments such as business banking, lending or investment sales.
Many banking internships take place during the summer months and are designed for students to participate during the break between the spring and fall semesters. Interns work alongside employees in a particular division of the bank and receive hands-on training related to day-to-day operations. In some cases, interns take on some basic responsibilities, but customer interactions are uncommon because interns mostly work behind the scenes. A bank may pay an intern a small stipend, but bank internships are generally unpaid, with the exception of travel expenses.
Interns who work as financial analysts are usually graduate students studying in finance, business or a related field. Interns analyze data related to the stock market or the performance of the bank’s assets and help the full-time analysts prepare reports and company meeting documents. Students who perform well during their internships are often conditional job offers, meaning they are guaranteed jobs at this bank as long as they successfully complete their degree programs.
Many banking positions are primarily focused on sales. Interns interested in working as a lender or broker after completing college can participate in programs that allow them to hide existing lenders and brokers. Due to licensing restrictions, interns cannot participate in sales presentations or talk to customers about sales-related issues, but they can observe sales sessions and learn about the banker’s day-to-day activities.
High school students sometimes participate in short-term banking internships lasting a few weeks. These internships are unpaid and are designed to provide high school students with an insight into the general banking world rather than preparing them for a specific job. Some schools bank internships in class, so part of a student’s grade may be based on participation in an internship program. Students often have to contact banks and organize their own internships, although some large schools have close ties with financial institutions and send groups of students to work for banks on an annual basis.
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