Regional Office Assistant Review

I enjoyed my time with LBG. The culture in the bank is a really nice one to work in, and everyone was very friendly. I was welcome to visit any team or department I wanted to in order to expand my understanding of the business and its aims. I did spend a fair amount of time doing admin work, but that was to be expected as the most junior member of the team.

I felt really valued by my team. They went out of their way to help me feel included and were always the ones offering me tea and coffee (contrary to certain stereotypes about interns!). they always seemed genuinely appreciative of my efforts. It's now the end of my placement and I'm genuinely going to miss the people I've been working with!

I was reasonably well supported. This was my second internship with Lloyds Banking Group so I needed much less guidance and help 'finding my feet' this time round. I had quite a lot of independence which suited me because I'd worked in a similar environment before (in fact, my old team literally sat upstairs from me!) However, if this had been my first longer internship I think I would have wanted to have more contact with my line manager.

I was kept reasonably busy. There was never a point where I felt overwhelmed with the volume of work I had to do, but most of the time I was pretty comfortable with my workload. Of course, there were quiet days but I think that was more down to a lack of tasks suitable for me at the beginning of my placement rather than any oversight on my team's part. By the end of my placement my workload was self-sustaining which was really nice, as I didn't have to keep asking people to give me jobs to do (the work started coming to me instead!).

I actually had a fair amount of responsibility during my placement, in the sense that I was given ownership of tasks rather than just asked to 'help' with them. None of those tasks were critical to the running of the business though; a lot of it was large admin jobs like looking after RSVP lists etc. Still, I appreciated the independence a lot.

To be honest, I'm hoping to pursue a career in academia so a 10 week placement in commercial banking doesn't really lend itself to that very much! Still, the general confidence/networking skills/'professional' skills will hopefully stand me in good stead. I've met a range of people from different backgrounds and been exposed to a whole new working environment which I think has helped me to develop as an individual.

My office was really friendly. I was a little apprehensive because I knew I was going into a fairly 'high up' team in the business, but generally the atmosphere was really relaxed. Everyone was very flexible about our start/finish times and taking days off when necessary for appointments/interviews etc. was never an issue. There was always someone around to offer tea/coffee and check on how I was getting on which was really lovely too.

Llloyds Banking Group's internship programme is pretty well established, and I think that's reflected in how well organised it is. I was given details of my placement in mid May with a start date of late June, and the team were always on hand if I needed help with anything. The only downside is the employment is arranged through a temp agency who are a bit of a nightmare to deal with, but that's not LBG's fault..!

I'm a member of the Lloyds Scholars programme, so the investment LBG has made in me has already been massive! In terms of this placement alone, I've had the chance to travel across the country to meet and work with teams outside of my own, which I've really appreciated. There was no specific training as such, but I definitely feel like LBG invests in its interns (after all, they're hoping to recruit us for their graduate scheme!)

Most interns are offered a place on LBG's graduate scheme, which I'd imagine is really appealing for most people!

This is one of LBG's real strengths! The interns are housed together which creates a really nice community of friendly faces in each office.

I live in the city where I completed my placement so I can't say I noticed it much. Of course, the Edinburgh Festival means prices for drinks etc. become higher throughout the month of August, but I think most people find that an easy trade off when they appreciate what they're getting in return from living in the city when it's at its most vibrant!

As above. I live here and haven't left Edinburgh, so I can't really comment re: comparisons with anywhere else!

There was a fair amount of networking/social activity between the interns and the graduate students working for LBG, and I think this is the same across all the cities where there are LBG hubs. If you want to get involved and are keen to meet new people then there'll be opportunities to do that.