Fintech
Find out about Revolut’s new frighteningly competitive internships and how to get one
Last year, fintech Titan Revolution launched its annual “Rev acceleratorinternship program. This year it’s back… but it’s not at all easy to find a place.
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Revolut offered ten places on the program last year, but received more than 3,000 applications, with an acceptance rate of 0.33%. Hedge funds like it Balyasny and Citadel accept a similar percentage of applicants. Revolut’s full-time gigs are just as competitive, with more than 500 candidates per job.
It’s unclear exactly how many interns Revolut will accept this year, but it has previously expressed a desire to expand the programme. There are four vacancies currently open, including London-based internships in business development and UX product ownership. Engineering Internships are currently restricted to continental Europe, with a Python role available in Lithuania, Portugal and Poland. The roles are also advertised as available for remote workers.
Why do an internship at Revolut?
Revolut has a reputation for giving its younger employees much more responsibility than they would be used to elsewhere. Fintech has (rather controversially) hired people in its industry early 1920s reporting directly to the CEO Nik Storonsky in the past. Revolut’s high entry level has given its alumni a very positive reputation in the space.
It seems like Rev-celerator could be just as fulfilling. Anousha Chowdhry, one of the 2023 cohort, called her time at Revolut “enriching” and said it gave her “countless opportunities for personal and professional growth”. She described the skills she learned in those three months as “invaluable.”
You can also translate the internship into a full-time graduate opportunity. Lucas Lawman, a college student from Warwick, interned as a back-end software developer and will return after graduation. He praised the fintech“exceptional team members” who “welcomed me warmly and provided invaluable guidance.”
Internships certainly won’t be for everyone; Revolut has earned a reputation for being very demanding of its employees. Storonsky has said in the past that Revolut staff I work 13 hour days and weekends when necessary, but exact times don’t matter – what matters is “getting things done”.
How to get an internship at Revolut
After only a year in the program, it’s difficult to create a definitive profile of what a Rev-Celerator intern looks like. There are, however, some consistencies with the 2023 accepted applicants.
Many of the interns come from top-tier British universities. Last year there was one intern from Durham, three from UCL, two from Warwick and two from Imperial College. Among these were a mix of bachelor’s and master’s students.
Don’t expect to get in without internship experience elsewhere. Most of the selected candidates have completed internships in sectors such as healthcare, banking, defense and fintech. One of the few who had not done an internship was instead a competitive programmer, another had experience in open source quantum algorithm research.
So, obviously, your personality needs to align with Revolut’s unique working environment. Jobs forum reviews Blind people say Revolut is “dynamic” and “results-oriented”. You also have to be an “A+ player”. Sounds easy…right?
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