Analyst in Performance Management Review

I was placed in a division that I did not choose and I did not feel that there was actually enough work for me to do that my colleagues actually needed an intern in the team I was placed in. I did not feel like I learnt a lot in the internship and that my skills were valued with the work I was given. I did not really enjoy it and I felt like it was a waste of time for the majority of the internship.

I did not feel very valued by my colleagues and my immediate team did not make much of an effort to include me in any team meetings or social events. I was given thanks for the work that I did but I never felt like I was actually part of the team in my internship.

My manager had only been at the bank for 3 months so he was still very new and didn't really understand the bank himself. He didn't have many contacts in the bank and was not willing to help me when I wanted to try and switch streams to the placement that I really wanted to do, and he had no contacts to help me. I don't think that a Line Manager should be someone who is still very new to the bank and finding their feet because it doesn't help me who wanted to make the most of my internship making contacts etc. but I did that all myself because my Line Manager had none.

At the beginning of the internship I had little work so I constantly kept asking everyone in my team and my wider team for work as I wanted to keep busy. As the internship progressed I got more and more work, and if I wasn't busy I ensured that I asked everyone for work because I always wanted to be kept busy.

Some tasks I were given were small and did not require much responsibility, but that is to be expected. The main task of my internship was to do a project about the Customer Journey in all the different sections of the Commercial Bank. I was given lots of responsibility on this as my Line Manager said that it was something which I could completely make my own and I was given a lot of freedom on the project, which I enjoyed. I am also presenting it to my immediate team of 10 on the 9th week of the internship, to illustrate the findings of my project and what we can do with the findings going forward.

I do not feel I develop many useful skills during the internship, as most of the tasks I was given were very basic and I did not learn anything new. I was given one task on Excel which I really enjoyed and felt I learnt more about Excel (I would have like further tasks like this). The only skill I truly learnt was more about how to network, because I was constantly doing this to try to get into another area of the bank, which was harder because my Line Manager did not want to help me and did not have many contacts to help me do this.

The atmosphere in the office is quite dull and boring, people don't talk to each other much and going into the office is quite a demotivating experience. This was especially true in my team who seemed a very dull team, if it was more exciting I may have been more motivated and happier at work.

I had introductions in the first week with everyone in the team and I always had a desk to sit on. Prior to the internship, my Line Manager had decided to give me a project for the duration of the internship, but it took less time in the internship than he overall anticipated I think.

I had no training courses and I did not learn very much at all in terms of skills on my internship, so I feel that the company did not invest in me at all. This made me quite annoyed as when I look back on my internship I seriously wonder what I have actually learnt in the past 10 weeks.

I am not appealed to work in the current stream of Lloyds Bank that I am currently working in. I have expressed my strong desire to switch programs and I am doing everything in my power to try and switch, but Lloyds Bank are making it very difficult to let me switch which I think is very bad as you should not be expected to want to do a graduate scheme for 2 years in the internship that you were placed in (which I did not apply to) as the point of the internship is to figure out which area of the bank you enjoy but I do not think Lloyds realise this.

I really enjoyed socialising with the other interns in the bank and everyone was really friendly. However Lloyds bank did not organise any socials for all of the interns in London (there were roughly 200 of us) even at the beginning which I think they should of done as it would have been a good way to get to know everyone.

It was very expensive to live and work here as it is in the City of London, but the expensive prices of food and drink were to be expected so I tended to bring lunch from home as this was cheaper and also healthier.

The nightlife was good - there were lots of bars around the work place however they were all very expensive because it was in the heart of London. They were lots of areas around the office that were easy to go to get a quick drink after work which was nice.

No there were not really any activities to get involved in outside of work. I did join the department wide running club where we ran at least once a week during our lunch break, this was a good way to meet other people in other departments and a nice way to meet people on my floor who I did not actually work with.