Assistant Manager (Intern) Review

Really lovely team in the office in which I was based and I was given a number of projects to work on so that I have something to leave at the end of my placement, showing that I've achieved some quite tangible work. The internship was really rewarding and I’d recommend to anyone wanting a 10 week long job for the summer

Really lovely team who included me as if I were a normal member of staff, giving me really interesting work, inviting me on team trips to the pub and also letting me go on business trips to other offices around the UK. Although I still knew I was the intern of the office, I worked with a variety of people in the team as if I was going to be around for longer.

Really good guidance from the central internship team followed by once a week meetings with my manager to keep track of what was going on with my placement and seemed to really care about my development. We filled in score cards together to track my progress and I was sat near my line manager so could always ask questions if needed.

Mostly a good level of work and not often too busy if I had a lot of conference calls with also projects to complete, but more often there were days where there wasn't much to do so had to try and find some of my own work. I made sure I had one project which I would work on when I wasn’t busy but it did mean that some days tended to feel a lot longer than others

Lots of responsibility, heading up a couple of smaller projects and then also working on some larger ones with senior members of staff. My manager referred me on to work with higher up managers so I could see some bigger work and also help them with some of their day to day tasks to get an idea of what they do

Great training and will really help me with my employability, plus doing the internship well gets me on to the Graduate Scheme so is a really good opportunity. There is no specific qualification (the graduate scheme includes this) but there were a series of personal development webinars as well as related training for the business area you were working in

Great chatty atmosphere and everyone is willing to help if there's something I don't understand or even if I just need something printed for me because some things you can’t do on your own as a temporary member of staff. Some offices are slightly different with the London HQs being slightly quieter sometimes but mostly they're great places to work in as an intern.

It seems logically organised with 10 weeks of work including an induction day in London with all the other interns. The application process of tests and a video interview is great as there's no need to attend an assessment centre but there was a bit of confusion being sent different offer letters and refusal letters so the admin probably needed tightening up a little bit. The charity challenge is a great exercise, raising money for the charity of the year (currently BBC Children In Need) which is great for working in groups, but again the admin was often late for that... but generally a really good scheme and very enjoyable, just a few teething problems.

Lloyds Banking Group invests a lot in interns, giving you the opportunity to travel and to work with senior staff. They also run regular training sessions and, if moving to the graduate programme, you can also get qualifications recognised by banking providers such as the Charters Bankers Diploma. The webinars offered to interns instead were very useful and matched the 10 week length of the programme

The majority of interns will be offered a place on the graduate programme for another 2 years after graduation with a good starting salary and multiple placements, expecting to roll off the programme and into a permanent job. The internship offers a way to get on to this programme without the assessment centres of the main application process plus my manager helped me with what I needed to show if I wanted a place

We all met up regularly for pub trips, nights out and meals out in the evening, as well as catching up for lunch if our diaries all had some space at the same time! There was a social rep too but we tended to organise things ourselves. There were 6 of us who had moved to Birmingham from further away so Lloyds paid for a flat for us to live in which meant we could chat about our jobs and have some friends where we were living

I was placed in Birmingham which was very cheap to live in, especially food and travel. Socialising was very similar to any other major city with some more expensive bars but it was helped by the relatively low other costs. The cost of accommodation, because it involved me moving across from another city, was paid for by Lloyds so my salary went much further.

Great places to go for drinks, meals and bars for nights out. There were some great people as well to meet in the organisation and we often went out for lunch or for some drinks to get to know each other as a team with the occasional night out for someone’s birthday.

Lots of social activities and the charity challenge encourages you to do the fundraising outside of work as a group so it means that you can leave work at the office if you like or if you've moved to a new city and are on your own, there is plenty to get involved in. I spent time doing some sponsored events and street collections which, when combined with social things with everyone from work and heading home occasionally, I didn’t have too much free time.