PMO Analyst Review

I enjoyed my placement to a reasonable extent, however, I wouldn't say it was the best job ever. In the early weeks of the internship I was not given any work to do but spend my first week completing online training which was given to all staff. My second week I spent time looking after two work experience students who joined my team and I did not find this time was used effectively. However, slowly my experience improved as I was given more work but there were still many occasions in which I did not have any work to do or I was given tasks which did not improve my overall experience. I believe if I was placed in a different area I would have been able to enjoy the placement more as the majority of my tasks involved working alongside another intern, which was fantastic, but the level of work was not sufficient for one of us let alone the both of us.

I felt extremely valued by the colleagues around me. I had open communication channels with all of my colleagues and the door was always open to speak to them when I needed to. They were very welcoming and appreciated all of the time and effort I put into the work I had been given and the extra pieces of work they provided me with.

My manager was very supportive of me in my process to learn and develop myself whilst trying to make a difference within the team. I had to mention and arrange a meeting for my own development as my manager never mentioned it to me and I also had to remind my manager about conducting the end of internship interview session. However, once these were arranged he was very supportive of me and provided guidance on the areas that I am doing well in and the areas I need to improve on. He was very accommodating with my desire to explore other areas of the business and gain an insight into other divisions of the bank that I could potentially move to.

For a great period of my internship I was stuck without work to be doing and when I was eventually given work it would not keep me busy for too long. There was no structure to my internship and there was no plan for how I would go about my 10 week period within the bank. I constantly ask my manager for more work to do and he apologised to me for not having much to give me and on certain occasions I was able to go home early (I usually finish at 5pm). This was very disappointing for me as I was expecting work to do which would be valuable and help make a difference to the organisation. However, I was able to help other teams with tasks they needed help with but when I finished these I returned to having a minimal amount of work to do. In my team I was placed with another intern and the work was split into two so we would both have tasks to do. However, this amount of work would not have kept one of us completely busy and most definitely did not keep the both of us busy.

During my time I was given a fair amount of responsibility but not as much as I had hoped for. I did not feel as if I was being stretched the way I would have liked to be during my internship. However, I do understand I am only in the organisation for 10 weeks so it is not realistic to expect too much. I did get given key tasks on the side that included recreating a handbook for senior executives that I was able to present. This was an important and useful task which can be implemented into the wider business area and I am proud of completing it.

I believe I was able to gain on my interpersonal and relationship building skills whilst in the workplace as I had a great amount of exposure to colleagues and senior stakeholders within the organisation. I was also able to improve on my time management and efficiency whilst working as I was able to juggle multiple projects at the same time when they were assigned to me. I did not receive specific training for my area or job but more of a general workplace training for all candidates. I believe this training can help me in a work place within the banking and financial services sector.

There was a lively atmosphere in my office for most of the week. There was a great connection between the colleagues in the teams located around each other and this made the day go by very quickly. However, on Friday as the majority of the office is not in (at times even my manager) myself and another intern in my team will be left in a very quiet and dull office.

I felt as if there was no organisation when I joined the team. For my first week my manager had nothing for me to do and I ended up completing all of the online training during this time. During this time myself and another intern were also arranging what to do the following week for when the work experience students arrived. I was then given tasks when asked as my manager would ask all of the different teams if they had any work for me to do. There was no arranging of feedback sessions and this had to be done by myself. A project had not been organised until the 6th week of my internship and by this point I was contacting other teams myself for any work they could provide as my manager did not have much for us to do.

In terms of personal training I was given online training which was available to all members of the group and not specific to me or my team. We had no training before I started the placement or any training about the business area I was involved in. However, we did have 4 calls during our internship on how to develop ourselves and I found this very informative. I would have liked to spend some time learning about the business area and a training event would have been good. The company did try to invest but I believe more could have been done to improve us.

Future employment prospects are very appealing with LBG. Even though I did not have the greatest experience during my internship I would still take the job as after speaking to many people within the organisation I have found that on the graduate scheme you will do different rotations. I was not happy with the area I had my internship but when spending time with other areas I was very interested in what they do. LBG is a great firm that allows exposure to different areas and you always have the opportunity to move around to find your perfect match.

The social scene amongst placement students and colleagues were fantastic. Throughout my time we were constantly receiving invitations to night outs, evening dinners and different events. Within my team I was able to go out to the pub with them after work and interact with them in a more social setting which is good for the team bonding experience.

London is very expensive. My travel cost £170 per month and whilst at work I would spend between £5-15 every day depending on where I went to eat and all the snacks I would have during the day. However, the canteen has subsidised affordable pricing which I should have made better use of. Socialising is expensive in London but its the place to be. I wouldn't have it any other way.

The Nightlife in London is great. There are always places to go and you can never run out of options during your 10 week placement. There are places to go for those with all different types of interests and taste in music or food. London is very easy to travel through and is a very safe place to be on a night out.

Whilst I was working there were multiple opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work. The Children In Need charity challenge that all interns and graduates are involved in opens up a never ending list of opportunities and activities ranging from paintballing events to a treasure hunt through London. An amazing place to be for meeting new people and getting involved in various activities.