Risk Analyst Review

This is a good hands on placement where you are treated as one of the team and given real job responsibilities. I was given my own project to work on as well as numerous organisational responsibilities such as contacting senior members and putting together meetings and events. I was situated in London and enjoyed the hustle and bustle of city life, and getting to know the city of London whilst working there.

Although you are the most junior members of the team you are made to feel welcome and treated no differently to any of the rest of the team. My team had a good working environment and we have numerous social events such a charity pub quiz's, treasure hunt's and team lunch's. I definitely felt valued by my colleagues because my being there was beneficial to them and we both knew it.

I was supported by both Lloyds Banking group via my line manager and my colleagues, and by Hyphen (the company that recruits the Lloyds Banking group industrial placement students) via their support workers and regular meetings with all the industrial placement students. We had group meetings with all the students in my office where we could discuss and issues and how the placement was going for us all.

The amount of work you get can vary week to week, but it's mostly down to you as to how busy you want to be. You will be given work from your line manager which will equate to maybe 5 hours work a day, the rest of your time will be taken by other tasks such as meetings, organisational tasks etc. You won't be worked off your feet but if you find that you're twiddling your thumbs there is always someone you can ask if they have any work that you could help them with which means you can pick up pieces of work that may be of particular interest to you.

On a personal level I was given overall responsibility for monthly cross-location meetings for the whole department. This involved contacting external speakers, agreeing dates time locations with senior management, making sure rooms were available and booked, and getting invited out to everyone. Then on the day I was responsible for slide decks, team activities, team lunch organisation etc. This was all on top of my day-to-day work and was a good way of getting myself known within the business and developing my communication and organisational skills.

I study Economics and was in a very quantitative role, within an analytics department where those around me specialised in maths, physics and computer science so my role was not directly relevant to my degree. However, I was able to use my maths skills that I'd learnt in statistics and econometrics for example to real world situations. I was also sent on training courses on things such as SQL computer programming which will stand me in good stead for the future.

The office atmosphere was friendly but hard working. It was obvious from day 1 that you were there to work, but that doesn't mean that you can't enjoy the company of your colleagues. We had team lunch every other Friday to build team relationships, and had office competitions such as a fantasy football league to keep up the office 'banter'.

Most of the placement organisation is done by Hyphen who will give you the information you need prior to the start date and support you throughout the placement. On the Lloyds Banking group side the first week is a bit chaotic sorting our IT issues and getting to know everyone but you quickly settle into a routine and your line manager will organise your workload and you will have regular 1-to-1 sessions to make sure you're happy.

I attended an SQL training course in Bristol which lasted 3 days which was both very useful and also enjoyable. The company makes sure you're looked after with expenses for a hotel and a meal every night! I also took many online training courses, lloyds banking group has its own online library of training materials free for you to do as you please in order to expand your knowledge of any particular area.

If you impress during your placement year you will be invited back onto the graduate scheme. The graduate scheme works in 2 ways; both run for 2 years but you can either choose to work in one department for the whole time or swap around 4 departments where you work 6 months in each. Overall the future prospects that arise from this work placement are very appealing and this is a good first step to a successful career.

There is an online industrial placement web page and monthly industrial placement catch up calls where everything and anything is discussed. We had an IP fantasy football league for some banter amongst us, and social events were organised by the 'social hub champion' from each area such as IP lunches, bowling, cinema, or drinks and clubbing for the more adventurous. Charity events and Christmas parties were also arranged by and for the IP students.

Living in London which is where I worked is not cheap! If you have the option to live and home you'd save money but then you've got a longer commute. Cost of socialising in London isn't as bad as you might think. You can get a lunch in London fairly cheap if you know where to go, for example slug and lettuce on a monday is half price. There is also many happy hours and cheap bar deals that you'll find. London is an expensive place to be though there's no getting around that unfortunately that's the price you pay for being in the capital.

London nightlife has everything you could ever need. From vibrant rooftop bars with the cast of MIC to £2 pints at the wetherspoons, there is something for everyone. Of course you've got cinemas, bowling alleys, restaurants, shopping centres, theatres etc etc. You won't run out of things to do in London, believe me. If you get a chance get yourself up to Madisons next to St Pauls, very cool rooftop bar and restaurant.

There are many opportunities to get involved in events outside of work. Most of the events will be charity events as lloyds banking group is committed to raising money for charity as any good business should be. They are always looking for volunteers to help organise and take part in these activates which can be really fun, and will be a rewarding task that is outside of your everyday job role.