Relationship manager, Commercial Real Estate, Listed Team. Review

I have thoroughly enjoyed my internship, the work has been engaging and challenging. I have had a number of opportunities both within and out of the office environment which has enabled me to grow my professional network accordingly

I felt valued by colleagues and was welcomed in by my team, I have been involved in a number of social aspects that I feel have really made a difference to how settled I felt within the team and also to my overall enjoyment of the internship. They have tried to give me a variety of work spanning different areas of the business, the only problem being that due to my limited (but growing) knowledge of the business I was unable to see projects through from start to finish.

I have had weekly one to ones with my line manager to discuss my performance and offer constructive criticism on how I can improve. Furthermore my whole team have offered one to one chats regarding things that I can do to maximise my chances of getting the graduate referral which I have found very rewarding.

Despite being told that the summer was one of the quietest times for my area of the bank I have so far never been a position where I have had nothing to do. The work has been steady, with a variety of projects on the go, some with short term deadlines and others that will span the length of the internship. There has been occasions where I have stayed slightly later to ensure a deadline was hit, however I have never felt under too much pressure or overloaded with work.

I have been given pieces of work to carry out independently, which I have done to the best of my ability. There is a limit to how much I can own a project from start to finish due to the client driven nature of the work and my general lack of experience in this sector. The intern challenge that I am required to complete added an extra level of responsibility to the role

I feel I have developed my skillset greatly, particularly in a professional manner. While there is still so much of the job that I do not understand, the general experience of working in a professional environment and learning professional conduct when dealing with clients has given transferable skills that I can take into any employment. Furthermore the work I have been set, as well as the intern challenge, has given me a much wider appreciation of the financial sector as a whole and provided with a solid foundation should I choose to continue onto employment within this field.

The general atmosphere is very friendly and relatively relaxed, there is a clear level of professionalism within the office and a clear conduct that people adhere to. Although the office is reasonably quiet I do get the impression that most people enjoy their roles.

There have been a few glitches with regards to the organisation of my placement. Initially I was assigned to two teams and it wasn't until the week before that I had my place officially confirmed. There has also been a lot of mixed information being circulated between interns and scholars who adhere to two sets of rules, for example expected working hours; scholars are told they are not expected to work longer than 8 hours in any day however the team expectation is 9 hours minimum if not more dependent on deadlines. There is also no constant expectation across the different sectors of the bank, some people are offered the grad scheme based on whether or not they want it, whereas others have to compete with other interns/scholars, complete additional presentation challenges and are still not guaranteed to get the offer. The organisation within me team, regarding setting work, making sure I understand my role and keeping me up to date has been fantastic.

There was very little mandatory training to complete. The most development I have got has come from my teams constant involvement and the work set rather than the company. However, I understand that once on the grad scheme there are a number of qualifications that can be gained through the company that are fundamental to the type of role I am doing.

Future prospects are very good and the grad scheme on offer is highly competitive. There is lots of opportunity to explore the different areas within the business and a guaranteed path of progression. There isn't much flexibility within the grad placements which is my only criticism.

The social scene amongst the colleagues has been brilliant, there have been multiple opportunities to get involved, from softball and netball games, to networking events and bbq's. In contrast there has been nothing organised with the students or scholars to get involved in bar what people have organised on their own.

Lloyds provide accommodation for their interns which is free, it is very basic student style accommodation but is still good in terms of facilities and location. The general living costs in London are extremely high and as I am still paying for my accommodation at home whilst working away I have found the financial burden to be a real struggle.

There is a wide variety of choice available in London, the only issue is the cost.

For my placement I have had the opportunity to get involved in softball and netball games, team nights out, networking events, and bbq's outside of work. These have all been organised through the team.