Creating a virtual internship program within financial services

Challenges

A global obstacle

A leading European investment bank hosts a yearly internship program, hiring for all positions by the end of the previous year. But with the outbreak of COVID-19, the July 2020 program was put on hold. This was challenging for the business because of the many benefits the program brings, including helping to identify great future leaders.

The company didn’t want to totally cancel the program – its people and brand are important to its culture and keeping the promise to accepted students was a top priority. Maintaining a flow of top junior talent is also critical for supporting the future of the business. To move forward with both initiatives, the company partnered with Cielo.

Solutions

Virtual internships for newly virtual world

The company agreed to convert the original eight-week, in-person internship into a five-week virtual internship program. Recognizing the need to provide the interns with clear structure and guidance, Cielo created a university-style schedule that aligned with how students managed their days. This approach gave the investment bank stakeholders the ability to plan and schedule key internal program resources so everyone got the best out of it.

The following steps were taken to ensure the program succeeded:

1. Influence capital markets and HR leaders to continue with the program despite the uncertainty that was abundant during Q1 2020.
2. Work with the business to visualize and design how a virtual internship program could be managed, what it would include, and over what timeline.
3. Align interns to appropriate business lines with the capital markets and brief hiring managers.
4. Update the incoming cohort of interns on the internship plan and ensure that virtual onboarding and host inductions are possible.
5. Maintain a clear and supportive candidate experience throughout the internship and ensure it runs seamlessly with a point of contact throughout.

Results

Bright benefits for students & the business

Cielo delivered an innovative virtual internship program that enabled the investment bank to keep its promise to the students and provide meaningful insight into the business. The key results were:

• Building a virtual internship program in just 10 weeks
• All 17 interns completed the program with a 50:50 male to female split
• Seven were offered full-time analyst positions based on their performance
• Of the seven offered full-time positions, five were female and two were male. This 70:30 female to male split is unprecedented for front office positions and has enabled the investment bank to reinforce its commitment to the “Women in Finance” charter
• Cielo enabled the investment bank to proceed with its internship program despite COVID-19 while several competitors withdrew their programs – bolstering employer brand and reputation