Summer Intern Review

I really enjoyed my time with Lloyd's banking group. It was so well structured and I really felt like i was given a fair chance to get involved. My working day was almost always varied so i fell like i got a good insight in to what a grad job might look like. The charity challenge was also a really great experience

I was always made to feel incredibly welcome by ALL of my colleagues from day one which was amazing. I feel that they always wanted to get me involved and really respected and listened to my opinions. I was never made to feel that i was inexperienxed or that my input wasn't valuable.

I had weekly meetings with my line manager where we would discuss my week and review my balanced scorecard. As well as that i was always encouraged to go to him for any help or guidance when i needed it which was great. The CPM's were also a fantastic support, they were all very willing to give me their time and guidance.

This could vary a bit, but the nature of the tasks i was given meant that some afternoons were quiter than other. However this was a place where there was always something you could do - for example shadowing colleagues or learning about various processes in the business. The charity challenge tasks could also keep you busy with organisation and planning.

I definitely felt like my abilities were trusted and i was given a lot of control over two projects. One of which i was actually allowed to plan and implement from scratch. It was the perfect balance as although i was given control, i didn't have to work within crazy deadlines and i wasn't expected to make a miracle overnight.

I was able to see a lot of the management theory i have learned about at uni put in to practice. As well as that, working within a real life organisation gave me so much insight into how work teams function and how people respond to different managing styles. I feel that the skills i have learned over the summer will always prove useful to me in the future.

The office was quite small in comparison to other buildings, however most of the employees have worked there since it opened and so everyone is like a big family. Everyone is so friendly and it was always a nice place to walk in to in the morning. My manager is also such a lovely person who puts everybody at ease and doesn't have a big ego - this makes a real difference within the office.

I would say that there was a good balance here, I didn't feel that my tasks were regimented and unflexible. I was able to partially take ownership of my learning and experience but i was given all the right help and support to do so. If there was anything extra that i wanted to learn about this was never an issue.

I was expected to complete statutory training in the form of online modules (such as competition law, health & safety and vulnerable customers) which wasn't always relevant for my role as i wasn't customer facing, however all employees are expected to complete this. Most of my other training and development was on the job. We also had webinars that expanded on the group values and told us more information about the grad scheme.

The graduate scheme does sound like a great opportunity however we don't find out until the end of our placement whether or not we have secured a place. As far as i'm aware i'm on track with the standard of work i've been producing. We need to achieve a positive referral from our manager and go through a short interview to be considered.

There were no other placement students in my office so i can't comment. I was able to speak to some Edinburgh colleagues through the charity challenge and i think there was a lot more activity with them. Some of my colleagues would also go to the local pub on a Friday night

I was in Livingston which isn't a big city so it's pretty average.

There were a lot of socials and nights out planned by the interns especially in Edinburgh and London. As well as that the teams were always involved in events for the charity challenge so there was always a lot to do. If you lived in accomodation i'd say you had more to do probably because you were in the city centre.