Consumer Digital Intern Review

I found the work being done by my colleagues interesting and enjoyed learning about what all the different members of the team did. There was also 1 very interesting days of lab testing which I very much enjoyed. The team were very nice to me and the main person I was shadowing made me feel very welcome and the work environment in general was very welcoming. I did not give a higher rating though, as I feel the workload had a 'fits and bursts' nature where there was often quite a lot of time when I felt I did not have anything to do and was bored although when I did have work I enjoyed it! I feel this was due to the nature of the project I was given and not a representation of placements here in general.

I felt very welcomed by my colleagues and think the work I was given showed they valued what I had to contribute and trusted me to work to a sufficient standard independently which I liked. With regards to general office interactions not about work, everyone was very friendly and I feel like interactions where sincere and personal, and I felt like I was part of the team despite my short stay. Even those outside of the team I was working in where very friendly to me and more than willing to offer help and advice.

The person I was shadowing provided a great deal of support and guidance and was by far the best aspect of my internship. They dedicated a lot of their time to help me, help me find work which I was interested in and gave me a lot of independence and really helped me integrate into the team. My line manager was also very helpful and also allowed me a lot of independence with my work and the team who I was working within also provided me with a great deal of support and guidance and along with the person I was shadowing really were the best aspect of my internship.

In general, I was not very busy on a daily busy although the work varied slightly. The nature of the work required me to speak to, gain information from, and shadow many different people in the team which although very interesting meant sometimes I would be waiting to speak to someone for a while and would not have any work until I had. Once I had spoken to or shadowed the person I would then have a good amount of work for a while (hard to give an actual time) but would eventually return to feeling like I did not have enough work. Others interns I have spoken to have had very varied experiences, some similar to mine although the majority seemed overall happy with the volume of work and how busy they would be on a daily basis.

I was given a fair amount of responsibility as the task I was assigned, I completed independently with guidance and help from my colleagues whenever I asked. I feel the task was not menial or insignificant and would actually prove useful (even if only very occasionally and on a fairly small scale) once my internship was completed. I was trusted to approach the task in the way I wanted and the task itself with fairly open ended allowing me to make several decisions myself.

Quite a lot of what I learnt specifically, will not be that relevant outside of the internship although I think the experience of working in such an environment and seeing the way in which all of the departments and teams operated together will be useful and assist me in future studies and work placements/career. I also believe learning about the approach to work adopted within my team is a skill which will be very useful and transferable to both my personal studies, any time I will have to work in a team and my future career.

The office, in general had a very welcoming, friendly atmosphere. People were very supportive of the projects and charity schemes taking place which was good and I also felt like there was no imposing sense of hierarchy and, despite being an intern I was treated with a lot of respect still. People in the offices did not seem too stressed out either and I did not feel pressured by the environment.

I think the internship was well organised with a good process in place to monitor and check the progress and success of my internship not just in a professional sense but also in a personal sense. I think the charity project and intern projects were also both well organised and useful for helping me get involved in the office while meeting other interns. The only issue I take with the organisation of my internship is that the nature of my work, although very independent and interesting, meant I was often without work and bored so perhaps there may have been a way around this so I always had work even when not provided my project although I feel this is more a personal experience thing than reflection on the organisation of the internship in general.

I think the company invested a lot of contact time in me in order to make me feel involved with the team and to let me reach a stage where I could understand the team and the work being done as a whole rather than just with regard to my own task, which I appreciated and believe this is the reason for developing the skills which will be most useful and transferable outside of Lloyds which I think my team was aware of. I believe the goal of my line manager was to invest in me and help me benefit from the internship as much as possible and not just recruit me.

I think the chances of future employment with the organisation are fair although would definitely require some more work. I think it was clear that although I thought the internship interesting and valuable, I did not necessarily enjoy it a great deal and so did not apply myself as much as possible and I think for the best chances of future employment I should have applied myself more and networked more. I think the nature of the internship definitely lends itself to allowing the possibility of future employment.

There seemed to be a very good social scene amongst fellow interns. Those interns not already living at the location of the internship were provided with free accommodation which I think had a very good social scene and many of the interns I spoke to seemed pleased with the social scene. There was also several office organised social events.

The accommodation was provided for free for those not living in the area so the cost was pretty low (unless eating out often etc.) although the commute was quite expensive for those who did not. Living in central London meant socialising was more expensive than other locations but still definitely possible.

The nightlife was very good as the workplace was located in central London so there was many different pubs, clubs, shows, comedy gigs etc to go to every night of the week. These were pretty expensive but aiming to go on student nights and finding deals in some of the smaller places could keep costs down.

The charity challenge, which it was required for interns to participate in, provided the opportunity for some activities outside of work and there was also a masked ball on a boat which sounded like a cool event outside of work. Apart from that I personally did not hear about any other opportunities.