Underwriting Development Consultant Review

The internship gave me a real insight into working in a bank, and has changed my perception of banks. I assumed it was going to be very corporate and faceless, but the working environment in my department is nothing of the sort. All my colleagues have been friendly and encouraging, and I feel like I am part of the team. However, the reason I have given a 7 is because the work itself was sometimes very repetitive, when I would prefer something more intellectually challenging.

As mentioned above, my immediate colleagues have all been really welcoming. I feel comfortable in my team and my manager always tries to put me at ease. In termns of the wider team, I do feel a little more awkward but I put that down to the length of the internship more than anything. The work I have completed has been taken seriously and I have been made to feel like I have been a valuable addition to the team.

My manager sits next to me, and often checks to see how I am getting on. We have weekly catch-ups, and I am continually asked for feedback on how things could be done better. My manager and superiors are all really approachable, so I don't feel to nervous to ask for help. I have also been given plenty of resources to refer to if necessary.

It varies. When I am starting off on a project I find I am very busy, and work from the Charity challenge has also kept me busy. However, at the start of the internship I was often quite bored and also when I am waiting for a new work to be given to me. That said, compared to other interns that I have spoke with, I have been quite lucky with the amount if work I've been given.

I have been given considerable responsibility, as I have completed several projects that are completely my own work. These have then been presented to the team, as well as to higher level executives such as senior managers and also other teams within General Insurance. My recommendations have been taken on board and in this sense I feel like I have been responsible for the outcomes of these projects.

The general skills of working in a company such as Lloyds will be useful in whatever I do. For example, I have definitely developped my people skills and confidence in presenting ideas. Furthermore, I have developped my IT skills and developped a professional attitude to work. However, in terms of skills specific to my work, these will probably not come into the career I intend to go into.

The atmosphere was friendly, welcoming, and busy with lost of mini-catch ups and phone calls going on at all times. The environment was focused enough to get stuff done, and yet colleagues are still able to chat and enjoy our work. The only downside was thefact that on some days, a lot of people would be working from home, which meant the office was very quiet and empty. This made the day drag.

Overall the internship was set up well. As it is a big company, there was both high level organisation, such as the conference and webinar programme, and low level organisation, such as my immediate team. I feel like the low-level organisation was really, really good. However, the high level organisation was less successful in my opinon. For example, people had to fly down from edinburgh to London for one day which is a waste of time and money. There should have been regional bases instead.

We had to complete statutory training, but that was more of a requirement rather than an investment. Again on a low-level a good investment was made in me, for example I was able to meet and understand different areas of GI to give me a broader perspective on insurance and my role within it. However, on a high-level, there was a personal development webinar programme which I thought was mostly either patronising or repeitive of what we had all already heard at school etc.

The internship is aimed at encouraging people to apply for the Graduate Scheme, which is not something I am interested in because it would hinder my career in Law, However, the company does appeal to me, and I would consider working for Lloyds in the future. On placement review, I was told that they would be happy to hire me.

As most the interns shared accomodation together, a social scene did develop. However, I was unable to participate properly because of other commitments. I feel like on the whole the intens all got on well, and some are very good friends. There were also some events linked in with the Graduate programme as well as team socials. The Charity Challenge also provided an opportunity to get to know other interns really well.

I lived and worked in Leeds, which was fairly cheap. My accomodation was paid for as I live in Cheshire. As mentioned above, I did not ahve much time to "socialise" as such so can't really comment properly on that, however I did go out for meals and a few drinks and these were reaosnably priced. Overall, the cost of living was reasonable.

Again, I didnt get much chance to experience it, but Leeds has a very good reputation for nightlife. They only complaint I heard on the grapevine was that since students have mostly gone home in summer, it was quite as "buzzing" as it would be normal. There is a lot of variety, however.

Yes, but more based on personal incentive rather than organised for the internship. I think a fantasy football league was available, but obviously that is not to everyones taste. However, as mentioned above Leeds is full of things to do. I joined a rowing club and found that really nice, as it made me feel like I actually lived in Leeds rather than just worked there.