BNP Paribas is a great bank if you are French but not so much if you come from another country. Most senior people are French and you will find it more difficult to grow your network and advance your career compared to other banks.

It is the only spring week I managed to secure so take the rating with a grain of salt (not many other programmes I could compare it against). First off, it is only 4 days long and not a full week. Other banks might run it for a full week, or even two weeks. The programme is quite action packed with presentations given by people from the business, introducing the bank and their key revenue streams. It is a busy schedule from 9am to 6pm (and the networking event in the evening) and I was actually quite tired at the end of it. There were a number of students from European universities, interestingly not one from a French university, but quite a few from German and Nordic. I learned a lot in the span of these packed 4 days, and I'd say I learnt more from my peers rather than from the presentations and case studies (although they were useful as well in terms gaining technical knowledge and professional skills).My advice to anyone attending the programme is to enjoy yourself, network with your fellow students and be open-minded to make the most out of it. I would also add that at the end of those 4 days some people are offered a place on their summer internship the following year, and so the competition is quite cut-throat during the programme as often times those places are limited vs students attending the programme, so one needs to stand out to secure it.

BNP Paribas offers great work/life balance in most departments, depending on your position, team, immediate supervisor and market conditions you might still struggle with leaving work on time and/or fully shutting off on the weekends etc. Such pressure is expected if you are working with quantitative models based on constantly changing market dynamics. Especially commodity markets whether energy, agriculture or precious metals get disrupted easily by political developments, weather events, holidays and so many other things. Equity and fixed income desks usually have similar realities as well. So, high-intensity (at least time to time) and at least moderate amount of pressure is implied and should be expected in quantitative analyst and similar positions. Other than that, I felt BNP Paribas values good character so you get decent colleagues and usually good bosses (so hopefully there won't be too many American Psycho type bankers at your branch or HQ). Another advantage is they offer better remuneration packages than most - great pension contributions, dental coverage, health coverage and sometimes even spa and acupuncture coverage if you're into those and think they might improve your well being. Overall though, I must say BNP Paribas is usually known for its great support for employees, understanding and supportive culture and very inclusive as well. So I appreciate this company for taking those values seriously. Finally one remark I'd like to make is I can see someone who aspires to become a world-class quantitative analyst/trader/IB banker/PE analyst etc. being a bit disappointed due to relatively more chill work culture.If you are looking for cut-throat competition and bleeding edge you might want to find something more special in your niche. Having said that I believe bulge brackets like BNP Paribas offer great career options and also do a great job preparing young financiers for more interesting opportunities (if pursued) in the future.