Volume Planning Business Partner Review

I really enjoyed my internship at Lloyds Banking Group. I was placed in the Finance division, specifically within the Volume Planning team in Mortgages. My role mainly involved assisting my team with day to day tasks. For me this included creating PowerPoint presentations which would be seen by senior leaders at the bank, analysing and tracking mortgage data and participating in team meetings.

From day one of my internship I was made to feel like a full time colleague and not merely just "the intern". My team were genuinely interested in my development and always went the extra mile to ensure I was comfortable with the work I was undertaking. Furthermore, they were always very receptive to my questions, no matter how obvious the answer!

I had two weekly catch up sessions with my line manager. The first of these would be specifically focused on my development. In particular, we would discuss how my experiences in the workplace were helping me to enhance my skills and hence meet the objectives which I set at the start of the internship. The second session would usually be a more informal discussion of how my week was going.

The nature of the team I was placed in meant that workload could vary dramatically from day to day. At the start of my internship it was relatively small, I would spend most of my time completing admin tasks and shadowing colleagues. However, after a few weeks my workload began to steadily improve, to the extent were by at the end of my internship I was as busy as a full time colleague.

At the start of my internship my responsibilities were limited to simple admin tasks. This is completely understandable when you consider that my team was producing work which was distributed to senior leaders at the bank, so it had to be done right! As the weeks progressed my responsibilities gradually increased. By the end of the internship I was completing the work of a full time colleague.

Having never worked in a real business environment before, I can not stress enough the importance of work experience. It provides not only the opportunity to develop your skills but also to understand if a career path is really for you! During my time at Lloyds my skills were developed immeasurably. Whether that be through becoming more confident, being able to communicate more clearly in a team or new Excel skills, I feel I now have a skillset which will place me in a very strong position in the job market.

I was expecting the general atmosphere of my office to be tense and serious, but thankfully I was quickly proven wrong! In fact, I found it relaxed and friendly, which helped me to settle in really easily when I started my internship. I also found that colleagues, not just from my team, were always very approachable!

Overall, I would say the internship was very well organised. I was allocated a role three hours away from my home, but fortunately Lloyds arranged for me to live in student accommodation close to my workplace. Furthermore, the LBG Emerging Talent Team kept in regular contact via email which was very useful. The only thing I could complain about would be finding out about my placement location in the middle of my University exam period. However, I do understand that it's difficult to find a suitable time which suits everyone!

The LBG Emerging Talent team arranged a set of four webinars over the course of the internship. Each of these showcased a different skill which would be useful in future employment. I found the webinars very interesting and I feel like I learnt a lot from them! I also held regular one to one meetings with my line manager, were we discussed my personal development.

After only a few weeks at LBG, I knew this was the company I wanted to work for after graduation. Their ethos and aims, combined with the importance which they place on development really won me over! Fortunately, after I finished my internship I was informed that I had been offered a role on their Graduate Scheme.

Prior to the start of my internship, this was one of the things which I worried most about. Moving to a completely new city for three months I expected to be living in a flat on my own. However, I soon found out that there were many interns in a similar position. Being all placed in the same student accommodation, regular nights out and day trips took place.

As my internship was based three hours away from my family home, Lloyds fortunately put me up in student accommodation completely free of charge. Furthermore, I found the cost of socialising very reasonable as well. As I lived in a student area, clubs tended to have student nights and restaurants offered student deals!

The nightlife was very good. I was based in Leeds, within close proximity to a number of universities, so as you can expect there was a complete spectrum of bars, pubs and clubs to suit all tastes. If drinking was not your thing then there were also a variety of restaurants available, catering for all budgets.

As I was living with a group of around 30 other interns, there were no end of opportunities available outside of work to get involved in. Furthermore, the Charity Challenge, run by the Emerging Talent Team as part of the internship, also provided an opportunity to take part in less conventional activities whilst also raising money for a good cause!