PMO Analyst Intern Review

The first week of the placement was rather slow; I wasn't given any responsibility or much significant work to do at all. From the second week following, however, I was placed under a professional from a different business area every two weeks and shadowed them to gain an understanding of their role and responsibilities to the team - this challenge was exciting and I found it to be very enjoyable. If not for the slow start, I would have rated this section higher.

Level of value differed based on whom I was shadowing at the time. I didn't feel overtly valued by my line manager at first; however this is understandable as he is a very busy man. When placed under different colleagues I was given work varying in both significance and difficulty.

Very little direct support from my line manager compared to other interns in different areas that I had spoken to. Again, I assume that this varies based on how important your line manager is, but I was unaware of certain procedures that had to be completed for my referral to the graduate scheme, and only found out about these from other interns who had been told by their line managers.

My level of activity was dependent upon which area I was working in; however members of my team always tried to give me something to do when I was free. Certain roles such as PMO had few deliverables that an intern could work on, and so that particular placement focussed more on meetings and conferences rather than direct deliverables.

I didn't just perform simple leg work. The deliverables I produced were utilised by the rest of the team and contributed towards the final business releases of the projects I worked on - for instance defect triage and defining use cases. The tasks weren't anything vital or crucial, however neither were they insignificant.

I believe the main benefits from my internship are not technical skills, but rather interpersonal and professional ones. I can safely say that I'm much less timid in expressing my opinions - this comes from having to address senior managers in many conferences and meetings. I'd also say that my project management skills have benefitted from this placement.

My team was very results driven, rather than hours driven; there was a big focus on doing your work and producing results rather than clocking in at 9am and leaving at 5pm. I feel this is what cultivated the less formal, friendly atmosphere that existed in my area of the bank, and is one that I'm quite partial toward. Other interns in separate areas did not have this luxury.

Quite disorganised at first. On my first day I had to wait in reception for an hour and a half as my line manager was in a conference, and I later found out was working from home on the day I started. When I first met him on the second day, he had no plan for the 10 weeks and we created one from there.

I had to complete mandatory online training as part of my internship - however I feel this was largely useless and more of a legal formality to provide 'adequate' training to staff. The intern webinars, however, were much more useful. Each week for the first four week, every intern connected to a conference webinar which had a different topic each week. Personal impact, organisation etc were main topics, with Q&A sessions at the end. These were much more useful.

I am unsure at this stage. The graduate scheme has its advantages (sponsored chartered banker study, 6 month rotations across divisions), however the inability to transfer across streams is a concern for me. The pay grade is also dependent on which stream you enter through, rather than which streams your placements are in - meaning you can perform the exact same placements as someone else, but be paid more.

In a word: yes. My team organised success celebrations at local pubs, and my office held monthly drinks on the third Thursday of each month. The interns and scholars also independently organised drinks socials, which were a great way to network and relax. I was based in London, and as I'm from much further up north and could not commute to my office, Lloyds paid for and provided accommodation in central London.

As I mentioned previously, Lloyds paid for 2 and a half months of accommodation at Dinwiddy House and Paul Robeson for all interns and scholars who could not commute. This was fantastic as I did not have to worry at all about budgeting. We were also paid weekly, which is great as a student coming in with the poor, desolated remnants of a student maintenance loan.

I was put up in central London - ergo there was always something to do and somewhere to go if you so wished. Places were rather pricey, however being paid weekly and not having to pay for accommodation meant that this was a low concern. Islington and Camden are flooded with bars and pubs, and with Shoreditch nearby for clubs there was something for everyone.

Yes and no. The interns organised some drinks socials and trips around London, however these happened infrequently. You had to organise something yourself most of the time if you wanted to do anything on the weekends. Often, however, I would enjoy just relaxing in my flat with the other interns.