Analyst, Financial Markets Review

The internship completely surpassed my expectations and pushed me to grow both personally and professionally. You are surrounded by very clever people that genuinely want you to do well. This was possibly the best summer that I've had!

My team gave continuous feedback throughout the internship and highlighted that I was “not a drain on resources, but a genuine asset to the team”. This meant everything to me, Coming from a science background, I really had a lot to learn, but the team made sure to take their time to explain things. You’ll pick things up quickly and soon be able to really merge with your team and help with day to day tasks – and get recognised for it.

I was part of a small team of 4. Each of my colleagues had their own expertise and background, where they took the time to explain how and why things are done. The flat structure was really useful as I was able to access both the Head of my desk to the graduate. For example, the grad could help with execution of tasks/trades and attention to detail, where the Head could aid with higher level/compliance issues.

As with all roles in markets, every single day is different – but that’s what makes it so damn interesting. The volatility in the markets this year gave us a lot to do, and made it a really interesting time. I was given a lot of responsibility that grew over time, so there was always something to do. For example, having successfully written the morning market commentary for clients, I was soon responsible for reporting my team’s weekly activity to senior management. I think that's the best thing about Lloyds Banking Group - you'll be worked hard, but still have a great work-life balance.

As mentioned above, my responsibility grew over time. It grew from shadow pricing products, to writing the daily market commentary for clients, to reporting to senior management and even responding to client queries. It was incredible to have been trusted to go out to clients whilst representing such a well respected institution.

You do not realise the level of attention to detail you need and quality of execution, until you get in to a business such as this. I think the best skill I have gained is confidence to ask: if you don’t ask you will never know. You get out what you put in. This will be vital for my future career.

There was a flat structure, in that senior management may be sitting next to a grad or intern. This allowed for a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. Colleagues would tell me they were happy to answer any questions, and they meant it. A great example of this is, I told my team I wanted to see the wider Financial Markets areas where my team then said they would fully support this. A colleague sitting behind me, working in another team, overheard and sent me a list of names, teams and emails to contact. From this I was able to independently organise shadowing of over 10 teams! This gave me an invaluable insight in to what the Financial Markets and support functions do and how they integrate.

In the beginning, my team members took the time to find out what it was that I wanted out of this internship. They helped find and develop my strengths and weaknesses. The flat structure was key in that each of my team members had their owI have met some of my best friends on this internship, where we still keep in contact now. During the internship, it may seem a little bewildering at first, but there are others out there going through the same motions as you are. It was incredible to be surrounded by others with similar drive, career aspirations and ingenuity.

I am honoured to say that I have been referred on to the Corporate Banking & Markets graduate programme! Lloyds Banking Group are genuinely interested in developing the leaders of tomorrow. During the internship, the structure of the relevant graduate programme was explained, where we were able to meet the grads either for a coffee or during one of the many socials. A great motivation for me was that the grad in my team was actually in my shoes four years prior – they had done an internship on this very team, been referred to the graduate scheme, did a rotation with this team and finally came back to work there full time!

We set up a facebook and whatsapp group to keep up to date with socials. Cocktails after work every Thursday was my favourite. n strengths which I could learn from. Three of my team members had had long and successful careers elsewhere, where, at the end of my internship, each team member sat with me one by one where I was able to speak to them personally and gain invaluable career advice.

London is incredibly expensive to live in, there’s no hiding that. However, Lloyds Banking Group fully supported us in offering free accommodation in central London. Not only were you situated with the other interns, but we all found that we were able to socialise, do the things we wanted to do on weekends, and still have some money left for our final year. This took a massive burden off of my shoulders.

Loads! Our floor had monthly (free) drinks, and the turn out was always great. They also had all of the interns invited to give our views on a volunteering initiative Lloyds Banking Group has in order to improve financial awareness in schools. But my favourite? The Financial Markets vs Capital Markets softball tournament.