My technology internship with Deutsche Bank
My internship lasted for nine weeks over the summer before my final year. The first week was for training – we were given a high level overview of the bank’s work and introduced to its different financial products. I spent the remaining eight weeks with the capacity management team, which monitors the capacity of the servers that run the bank’s critical applications.
Creating a web application using MySQL and PHP
When I joined there was no central source of server capacity reporting – my task was to create a web application that pulled relevant data together in one place. I developed a database in MySQL (for example indicating whether each server was currently at ‘red’, ‘amber’ or ‘green’ in terms of capacity) and built a front-end web application in PHP. This meant that the database could be accessed by anyone in the organisation via the intranet.
I’d learned the relevant technologies at university; however, to improve my skills further I read up on them online as I went along. It was also important to be proactive and discuss the project with my team, ensuring that I understood its needs and that I demonstrated my work and gathered feedback as I progressed. I was surprised by the level of responsibility I was given and enjoyed working on a project that had an impact upon the bank.
From intern to graduate scheme
At the end of the internship I presented my work to one of the managing directors, which involved a live demo of the system, and had an interview with two IT managers to discuss my work. On the basis of the latter, and feedback from my manager throughout the internship, I was offered a place on the graduate programme.
My advice for interns is to be willing to learn, enjoy the experience and take all opportunities offered. For example, I was invited to networking sessions and to talks from business and IT managers, which developed my knowledge and soft skills.
Vishal Shah graduated from University College London with an MEng in computer science. He is now an analyst at Deutsche Bank.