Intern - Business Change, Chief Operating Office, Insurance Review

My team at Lloyds made me feel incredibly welcome, I was given worthwhile tasks to do and feedback was provided consistently throughout my time with the company. I was relocated outside my two location preferences to Bristol, for the internship, but accomodation was provided and paid for, only a 10 minute walk to work. My manager was transparent with the referral arrangements onto the grad scheme, and this motivated me to work hard. I didn't wake up dread going to work at all, but occassionally my work load was a little light.

I was pleasantly surprised with the responsibility I was given during my placement, and this was reflected through the way I felt valued by my colleagues. I was producing work that had a part to play in colleagues work roles, and thus this resulted in those colleagues valuing my time and effort. I was often treated like a permanent member of the team, only very occassionally being treated like an intern by a couple of particular members of staff.

My manager was the highlight of my experience at Lloyds. From the day I arrived she was welcoming, friendly and supportive, settling my nerves and providing me with advice and guidance. She kept me up to date regularly with what was going on in the team and the department, as well as the timings and logistics for the intern referral scheme. It was great to have someone at work who guided me so much, ensuring I had sufficient work load, whilst balancing a managerial perspective with a friendly, paternalistic one. The experience wouldn't have been the same without her!

Working within 'Insurance Business Change', my workload saw peaks and troughs - typical of a department with a project-based nature. The majority of the time I had enough work to keep my busy, whilst not putting me under pressure to get back to work during lunch times etc; however at times I struggled to find tasks to take part in. My workload could have been increased as I find I work at my best when put under slight pressure.

I was given what I believe to be an appropriate level of responsibility during my time at Lloyds. Some of my tasks were small, low-skilled jobs, which had little/no impact on customers or staff, whilst many of my tasks were set or received my extremely senior management. This enabled me to learn to prioritise effectively dependant on the urgency of a task and the recipient.

The atmopsphere in my office was good. My department has an extremely relaxed culture, reflected through the smart/casual dress code, with dress down Fridays, as well as flexi-time, seeing people arriving and leaving work at all different times. People were friendly, but often stuck within their team - the high number of contractors saw a poor atmoshpere in certain areas of the office.

At the office-end, the internship was fantastically set-up and organised. This was largely down to my managers excellent organisation skills and a clear willingness to make my experience the best it could be. However, prior to my arrival for the internship, communication was poor from the Emerging Talent team and etails were vague and at times, confusing.

little/none.

There are a huge number of perks of working at Lloyds, which both colleagues and the emerging talent team made me aware of. The procpects of working for the bank in the future are extremely appealing, there is a vast amount of opportunity for progession both within and outside of your designated field. I hope to be referred onto the grad scheme!

Yes! During my second week at the company, their annual 'pub ralley' took place, a fantastic way to meet colleagues and friends with over 980 employees going on a pub crawl. Other interns were friendly, and lived in the same accomodation as myself, allowing us to build friendships and socialise really easily.

Im from London, so anything seems cheap! But I do know some of the other interns found it to be expensive.

Excellent. Being such a large Uni town, Bristol is extremely lively at night, with lots of pubs, bars and clubs on offer. Within walking distance from our offices and accomodation you can find up-market bars, pubs to watch the football in and quirky, independant venues with over 100 ciders to taste etc...plus everything in between! Great nightlife.

Not many.