Intern - People, Legal and Strategy Review

I really enjoyed my internship. My team were very welcoming and accommodating to my interests. I not only got to shadow a variety of different teams within People, Legal and Strategy, but also over divisions (Risk and Commercial Baking (products - Client Asset Management)). This has enabled me to have a clearer vision of what I am interested in - I thought I was only interested in the support functions of the bank, however, now I know that I am also interested in the 'Products' side of the bank. I have been able to under take a variety of projects - mainly on a adhoc basis. This meant that sometimes (although rarely) I found myself with little work to do. I have also increased my technical skills in Microsoft office - all of which I can transfer and use in the future. This was made possible by the engagement of my line manager and my team. One of my team members was an 'Expert' at Excel - he took the time to go through stuff on Excel with me. The first 2 weeks were very structured, however, after this your internship and workload were what you 'made of it'. I found other teams and divisions very approachable, so I was to gain a wide range of experiences - most of which you have to set up yourself. I liked this as you were almost given responsibility to manage yourself - instead of being completely dependent on your team. The other interns on my floor and in my building were very friendly.

I felt valued most of the time - when I had increased my technical skills I was able to form checks, create reports and forms, which provided them with a lot of help and made me feel like I was contributing to the team. However, as an intern there is only so much responsibility that you can take one and you have limited insights into most of your team's projects. This meant that you sometimes felt like you were are not being an asset to the team and bank - even if you have the technical capability to be so.

I was given a large amount of support by my line manager and my team during my internship - especially at the start. Despite many of colleagues going off on holiday my line manager made sure that there was always someone in the office that would be able to assist me (if I needed). Most of the projects that I did ie. formatting documents etc. I didn't need much guidance or assistance, because I had the technical capability to do them. However, when I approached them to ask for specific things that they needed - they were very clear with their instructions. This meant that I was able to effectively deliver my projects for them. If I needed help on a certain element of a project and they didn't now know to do it they would be able to give me a contact of another person that would be able to help.

Most of the time I was quite busy. This was especially the case in the first 2 weeks of the internship, as I had a timetable of things to do - that my line manager put together. After the first 2 weeks your workload to an extent can be controlled by you - again your internship is what you make of it. I personally prefer to have a high workload and to be busy. There are a wealth of opportunities to get involved in projects (you just have to be opened minded and take what comes your way). Sometimes (although rarely) my workload was load and I was finding myself being bored - this was mostly the case if I was waiting for other people to get back to me on certain parts of a project or if I was waiting for new projects to start. There are a large number of courses online on their interchange for you to look at - if you find that you don't have much to do. Also, many colleagues that I came across (in my team, divisions or other divisions) were happy for me to shadow them etc.

As an intern there is only so much responsibility that you can take one and you have limited insights into most of your team's projects. This meant that you sometimes felt like you had a limited impact. This was mainly due to the fact that I was only here for 10 weeks and many projects were already in progress, which you couldn't get into very easily.

The technical skills that I have gained have been invaluable. I am now much better at Excel - I can construct pivot tables, charts, VBA coding, Macros etc. all of which I can apply to another placement and my university studies. I have also learnt to lease with people better on the phone and via email, which will be useful at university and my career in the future. I have also learnt to be more of a team player, and to effectively engage with those of different types of personalities.

The atmosphere was very welcoming and relaxed within my office. Colleagues from all teams on the floor were very approachable and accommodating. Even if colleague were doing pieces of work they were happily assist to you or answer any queries you have. The colleagues within my team were easy to work with and very positive. Even when I first started my internship I didn't feel out of place.

The first two weeks were very organised - with each day being timetabled in with activities. After this, you had to manage your own time to get projects done and deadlines met. I mainly structured my own day - by seeing what tasks I still needed to do and by looking at my calendar at the start of the day in order to make my own kind of 'timetable' for the day. However, I received many pieces of work on an adhoc basis - where I would prioritise certain pieces of work over others - those which needed to be done by the end of that would be scheduled ahead before other pieces of wok as they were more important to get done. Managing your own time is certainly a valuable skill that I've learnt and I prefer doing this over being dependent on my team to 'schedule' my day.

We had induction events - to find out what we needed to do an intern in general and in our department. We also had mandatory training to complete, which included: Non-branch colleague training, Risk training, Governance training, Health and Safety, Inclusion and Diversity etc. There was additional training online via their interchange including: Microsoft office training 2003,2010 etc. Accounting etc. This included stuff that was specific to your division and group wide stuff. However, you weren't constrained to just your division training - you could explore other divisions of interest. Also, a lot of my team were happy to teach me how to do things ie. in Excel being able to construct pivot tables and charts, VBA coding etc.

I have 2 internships with Lloyds - as a condition of the scholarship I receive from them. As I'm going to be completing my 1st internship in a few weeks I can't completely gauge how inclined I would be to work at Lloyds Banking Group in the future. I think my 2nd internship will give me more of an insight. Also, as my degree course is 4 years (including 1 year placement) I'm aware that because other opportunities may arise I may not even be at the place I plan to be in a few years time. However, the culture of LBG is something that really appeals to me. The 'agile' working patterns have helped my colleagues a lot - in order to fit their work around childcare etc. Although, this won't apply to me (hopefully for a long time) knowing that this option may still be there if I choose to work at LBG in the future makes it more appealing. Moreover, beyond graduation and during my working career I will be looking to establish myself in to an organisation – to provide them with long and loyal service. This means that having multiple internships and a placement in different organisations will be key to achieving this. I want to gain more of an insight into organizations I could work in in the future, so that I can decipher whether the organisation is right for me (including Lloyds etc.) and if I'll be right for the organisation.

On the weekends the social scene amongst fellow interns was very good. We did a range of things within Edinburgh: went up Arthur's seat, Pentland hills, Royal Botanic gardens etc. There's a lot to do in Edinburgh and the surrounding areas.The fringe festival was great - me and some of my fellow interns would go to shows in the evenings during the week. However, before the fringe occurred during the week after getting in from work you would feel very tired and not up to doing much after work. Most of the interns I knew stayed in their rooms/ flats. I went out and did sport. On the other hand, it generally depends on what types of people are on your internship.

My internship was in Edinburgh. The costs of living were generally in line with what I had when I was at uni - apart from accommodation costs. Accommodation (if arranged by Lloyds) is completely covered by Lloyds, so you won't have to pay for accommodation at all during your internship. However, if you're staying at home they won't pay anything towards it. If you're staying in your current student accommodation the limit they would cover was £100 pw - although this may change in the future. Going out ie drinks, cinema etc. were almost the same as it was in my uni town and home town.