Intern Review

I really enjoyed my internship. I was in the Group Corporate Treasury Legal team and was given a variety of activities to do. I felt like the internship was very structured and there were lots of centrally organised events which helped you get to know the other interns and parts of the business. I also got on really well with my team and I plan to keep in touch with my colleagues.

I felt extremely valued by my colleagues and that is not an exaggeration. When I was working on projects, I was always given feedback and if I had been helping out on an important matter I was always shown appreciation and thanked for my efforts. The culture at Lloyds Banking Group is very friendly and it did not feel like I was being assessed - I was doing tasks that had to be done whether I was there or not.

I was given a lot of support and guidance by my assigned line manager. I was sitting on the desk next to her and we had a relatively informal relationship, so I was never scared to ask questions in person or over email. Tasks were always explained well to me and often followed up by an email with bullet points outlining what I needed to do so I was never completely lost. She also supported me in terms of my welfare across the internship.

How busy I was varied depending on the day. Sometimes I had several tasks going on and other times I spent the day doing mandatory training or research. I really enjoyed the internship because it wasn't too intense and I never really had to stay late to finish off work which I have found to be different to a vacation scheme at a law firm that I completed, for example. Overall, I was not that busy and would probably prefer to start off somewhere where it is a bit more high-pressure.

I was given quite a lot of responsibility but it really depended on the task. I was the first point of contact and conducted the correspondence with a panel law firm which was a big responsibility. In other cases, however, I would just be proof reading and double checking that there were no errors in the documents. I completely understood that some tasks are much more complex so I would not have been able to do them and as the department dealt with high-value bonds etc it would have been risky for me to be doing the work.

I really felt like I developed a lot of transferable skills and that the training I received will help me massively when I start a real job. There were several things I learnt that may seem simple but you really improve on after 10 weeks in an office - e.g. answering the phone, writing formal emails and what to wear. I also developed my drafting skills and general ability to work 9-5 for more than a couple of weeks.

The general atmosphere in my office was super friendly. It was quite relaxed and everyone would take time to catch up with their colleagues in the morning and after lunch. During my internship, we had a 'dress-down August' which was really nice as we could wear casual clothes and again this made me feel more relaxed and it made me sometimes see my colleagues a bit differently as more 'normal' people. There were also a lot of events on because it was the summer so there were a lot of charity fundraisers and summer events which made everyone feel quite positive.

I thought the internship was set up extremely well. I had the chance to go to a law firm for 3 days and also another training day at a law firm with the other legal scholars (part of the Lloyds Scholarship Programme). The central charity challenge was also really structured and meant I was able to meet other interns and develop my skills. Throughout the internship, Lloyds ran webinars on a variety of different skills development which was useful.

There was a really good social scene amongst fellow interns and colleagues. During the internship I went to two boat parties on the Thames. I also had a departmental summer party at a bar overlooking St Paul's Cathedral - with drinks and nibbles on the house. As previously mentioned, the charity challenge was good fun. I always had other interns to go to lunch with which definitely made each day more enjoyable. It made me realise how important to get on with you colleagues because ten weeks is a long internship and means you can't spend time with your friends from home/ uni so could potentially be quite an isolating experience if there is not a good social scene.

I worked in the London office on Gresham Street. Naturally, London is extremely expensive in terms of travel and even just buying lunch. However, we were still able to socialise and made great use of happy hour in the nearby Slug and Lettuce, and Dirty Martini. I lived at home during my internship and my commute was about an hour - my travel was only subsidised on anything above £470 which was definitely a downside. Living at home meant I was not eating out in London or having to cook my own food very often, however.

The nightlife in London was pretty good - the only downside is that it was expensive. I never went clubbing or stayed out super late with my colleagues apart from the two boat parties previously mentioned. The bars were always open straight after work and there are loads of nice places to go for dinner if you wanted to hang out with colleagues/interns.