Assistant Credit Cards Propositions Manager Review

Working in Group Digital of Lloyds Banking Group has been an amazing experience, and the work was interesting and stretching. I have been able to complete a number of tasks over my ten weeks, which felt purposeful and meaningful. I didn't make a cup of tea once - my projects had a real impact and I will be able to look back and see changes I helped to make.

I felt generally valued by my colleagues on the whole. While sometimes it felt as though I was a little looked down upon or given work that no one else wanted to do, which I would think is standard for an internship, as my time progressed I felt more and more part of the team, and many people have said that I would be sorely missed.

My line manager has been amazing, helping me through difficulties and setting me a reasonable level of work which meant that I was rarely bored. Starting with daily 1:1 meetings, which then reduced to weekly in my first few weeks and then until the end, I felt like I always had a port of call if I needed it and never felt abandoned. Our relationship has become informal and friendly, whilst still professional, meaning we can joke around, likewise with the whole team, as well as discussing my development.

On the whole I was busy. While this varies from day to day and hour to hour, with some days very busy and some days quiet, I have had a decent level of work to complete. Nothing is worse than being bored with nothing to do, I promise you. While this happened on occasion, I was able to find other things to do, such as training or research. I felt like my ten weeks were really productive and I turned around many projects in much shorter times than expected.

I was given a reasonable level of responsibility for my position during my internship, such as presentations to teams and individuals for projects. That said, much of my work was in the formulation/ analysis stage, so there was the ability to check my work and I did not have a public impact. This said, I felt like the work I completed was important.

I developed a numerous array of skills, from teamwork in intern challenges to time management in the completion of projects within deadlines, and often completing far ahead of them. The training I received was on the whole interesting and I felt as though I learnt something, such as unconscious bias. While there may not be huge crossover with my degree studies, this internship really helps you to develop skills for working life afterward, which is something a lot of people can be lacking in.

The atmosphere in the office was fantastic - the office is generally smart/casual attire (whatever you want basically) which really makes it much more friendly than you might expect. The relationship of the team I joined was amazing - funny, friendly and helpful, while making sure they got a lot of work done - and they welcomed me in straight away and made me feel a real part of the team.

My internship was really well organised - I had a laptop from my first day and while there were a couple of IT issues beyond my line managers control, she made sure I was all set up so I could start off straight away. I then met all the team in 1:1 meetings across the first few weeks which meant I got a view of the whole team and what they did. I had a good level of work which meant I was never bored for long, and asking for additional work is the best idea.

The first two days of my internship was large-scale training days, the first being at a conference centre with a whole day planned of activities and talks. This was followed by a Digital specific day which went into more detail and was slightly more relaxed. Each week for the first month I then received one hour webinars which discussed group values and training. There was also a plethora of training online, and my line manager had daily 1:1's with me to make sure I was doing okay and knew what everyone was talking about: the acronyms can be a bit confusing at first!!

Really appealing - I'd love to work for Lloyds and the internship gives you a really good chance, but also allows you to really get an idea if Lloyds is a good fit for you. Digital is a growing area of the bank, with new roles popping up all the time. I did not secure a job as I was going from my first to second year of university, but my team were keen to make sure I could come back to digital again next year if I wanted to, so that I could apply for a job.

There was always lots of social activities going on, from drinks after team meetings and after the monthly business release, to intern bar crawls and nights out. Moreover, it was just the having lunch with my team, going to the local street market, getting a coffee, which made this such a nice experience.

London is expensive - everyone knows that. The level of pay was really good, but remember that this is a week delayed and paid on a Friday (so you need two weeks worth of money until your first payday). After this you can really start saving, or splurging, but this means you can save up for uni. Socialising is the biggest difference to say the regions (I go to university in Birmingham), but just make sure you're sensible.

I worked in the city, which has loads of pubs so good for an after-work tipple. For going out, central London is best, such as Covent Garden or Soho, which is about 15 minutes away by tube. The nights out are amazing, expensive, but amazing. I means you have to be a little more conservative than say at uni, but you make some amazing memories.... or not if you drink too much.

Lloyds runs a Charity Challenge which runs for the duration of your internship, which encourages you to raise as much money as possible for their official charity Children in Need. This gives you another side to your work which really helps you develop your skills in a different way.