IT Business Management Review

Generally enjoyed the internship, everyone I've had to exposure to in Group IT has been really friendly and willing to help. People, no matter how senior (to the extent of my exposure), have always been willing to spare ~30 mins of their day to talk you through what they do, a process etc. The whole experience was very relaxed, if you didn't know how to do a task you'd been set then people were always very understanding and willing to talk you through it. Also not a really rigid working schedule. I generally came in for 9, left at 4.30 with an hours lunch and could work from home 1 day a week.

Always felt like my views were listened too even though I've obviously got a lot less experience and knowledge than the people I was speaking with. People very friendly and welcoming, always have a chat at the desk with colleagues about our weekends, the football etc etc.

My line manager was always very supportive and organised. From day one, he was very clear about what his expectations of me were, how the whole ten weeks was going to work, the referral process etc. From speaking to other interns, this was not always the case. I know others were completely in the dark about how the whole process really worked and some that only saw their line manager once throughout the whole placement! Also very supportive if had any problems with any of the projects I was working on.

Probably my biggest complaint about the internship is I'd have definitely liked to have been more busy throughout it. Most days I had about 3-4 hours work but a 7 hour working day. Meant trying to fill remaining hours with stuff like online training (some actually quite interesting). However, I think you have got to appreciate that most people are under pressure to complete their own tasks on time and they want to make sure they get them in right and on time. I think having never done this role before it's to be expected that you couldn't just walk into the office and pick up something that someone who has been doing this for 30 years could do.

None of the tasks I was given were of 'super duper, if this isn't done the bank will lose billions' importance, but definitely not a bad thing in my opinion. Some of the tasks I was given had a high importance in making sure an individual project went well, or senior management was correctly informed but nothing that I felt uncomfortable with. And as I said in a previous section, people were always willing to help if you weren't sure about doing something wrong. So given a six on this scale, but really my satisfaction at this level would be closer to a ten,

My degree has nothing to do with IT! 'Then why are you doing a internship in IT?' I hear you ask. Simple answer is I initially applied to a different intern programme at Lloyds and was told that scheme was full, but there was places on the ITBM scheme. Having had a casual interest in IT, decided it would be an interesting opportunity. And it definitely has been... I haven't learnt how to code or build a PC or scratch or anything really techy but it has given me a much better understanding of computing. But most of all, just the experience of working in an office and professional environment. Just little things you pick up along the way on how to schedule your time, have successful meetings and get the best out of people is something I'll take away. I will say... there is no initial 'this is how to do your job' training at the start. It's very take things as they come and learn how to do it then. Something that when I started kinda bothered me but you learn to adapt and deal with it.

I think the 10 description of 'the fun never stopped' would be a bit strong for any job. But very friendly atmosphere in general. Some people nicer than others as is anywhere, but on the whole it was pretty good. People had their work to do but was fine to have a break to chat about other stuff. In my office, there wasn't really anyone under 30 except the other interns but didn't really find it an issue. With it being summer, the office was pretty dead for large parts, especially in August. On some days less than half of the desks were being used. Then around the office, there was a free bbq event one lunch, often cake sales for charity and people always bring stuff in on their birthdays.

From my understanding, 'Emerging Talent' the people that take care of all the application process, looked at your interview, allocated your place and generally run the internship programme have absolutely no hand in your actual placement. They simply hand you to your line manager and then it's up to them what you do. So for instance, my job description when I accepted the role was really nothing like what I actually ended up doing. This means you'll be doing something completely different to someone with the same job role/ description in a different office. Most of the instructions from emerging talent were pretty clear, the intern conference they organise the first week was good. The we had a webinar every Friday for the first four weeks from them. Varied from getting the most out of your time here to customer service and what happens after the internship. From the latter, it was mostly all clear about what we needed to do to get on the grad scheme and how we'd be assessed. From the perspective of my line manager, he was always very organised with what he wanted me to do. Set up weekly 1:1s from the first day, I remember someone saying on a call in week 4 that they still hadn't had one with their line manager.

Completed lots of training quizzes, some mandatory some optional. Most not particularly helpful, some interesting though. Think the development comes more through hands one experience. Think they are quite invested in helping you go through the grades (Intern to grad to perm employee then through management).

Yes pretty good from what I've experienced. Think I'd still apply to some other grad schemes if I got an offer from Lloyds but it's definitely still an attractive option to me. From what I've seen, ITBM is a good mix of responsibility and pay off. It's pretty flexible with working time, unlike other areas of the bank but the salaries are still pretty good and the job can be rewarding.

Being in Manchester for the internship, I do feel like we missed out a bit compared to the interns who were in London. There were about 12 of us in the Manchester/ Liverpool area but only two or three of us at any one offices which were all around the area. This made meeting up quite hard as some of the offices are over an hour away from each other, with everyone living in different locations too. Each area has a graduate who is like a social secretary. So it's there job to organise some social stuff for the interns and graduates in your location. We started off well and a good evening at a few bars in Manchester but any attempt to organise stuff after that didn't happen. Feel like in London, there's the opportunity to get involved a lot more. Think about half of all 300 and something interns are in London. During your internship you have to take part in the 'responsible business challenge' to raise as much money for Children in Need as possible in teams. A lot of teams decided to create events and sell tickets to make money for their total. This meant a lot of events in London, which are obviously hard to get to if you're anywhere else. Also events organised by LBG are all in London - talks with senior leaders, networking events etc. So definitely easier if you're in London to get connections and make the most of your experience I think.

I'm at uni in London but have lived all my life in the North west, so coming back is always a nice thing for my wallet! I therefore just stayed with my parents and drove into work. But rent is quite cheap in general compared to rest of the UK, food and going out also quite cheap.

It's fine, like any other big city in the UK really. Lots of pubs, bars and clubs in Manchester. Usually quite cheap... Having been a student in London I appreciate anywhere which doesn't have an entrance fee! But Manchester is a good city, usually always something going on. Good mix of nicer places (cocktail bars and stuff) and cheap pubs where you can get a drink for £2.

From what I saw, the colleagues didn't really socialise that much outside of work or have clubs etc. However, Lloyds is big on charity and volunteering. As an intern you're in a team competing in the responsible business challenge, trying to raise money for children in need. Full time colleagues are also heavily supported to do this kind of thing. Everyone gets a 'day to make a difference' where they volunteer at a charity/community project for one day instead of working. Lloyds will also match any money raised by colleagues for charity. Then in terms of activities in your spare time, with the pretty flexible working hours, it was quite easy to fit other stuff in. I play tennis about 3 weekday evenings a week and always managed to leave on time to get there.