Intern - Responsible Business, HBos, I&D & RBT & Foundations Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my internship. I was based in the Lloyd's Bank Foundation for England and Wales, a non-profit organisation that receives a percentage of the Bank's profits and invests it in small to medium charities, research into the third sector and national government policy work and influence. My placement, therefore, was incredibly rewarding and I would recommend it to anyone interested in domestic politics or the third sector as their expertise in this area is of the highest standard - they are the largest corporate foundation in the UK.

Professionally, I was surprised by how valued I was. In my first week I was invited to sit in and contribute to their strategy review staff away day; they asked for my thoughts/ opinions and, much to my surprise, they used them. The fact they have asked me to write blog posts about my thoughts on topics such as how better they could work with Lloyds Bank further shows they valued my opinion. Socially I was so warmly welcomed, taken out for drinks and team dinners on a regular basis. I never felt lonely in the office, everyone was lovely.

Unfortunately this was the only down side. As the Foundations are a legally independent entity to their parent corporate, the Bank, I was not given access to the Group's interchange and email system. This proved very irritating when colleges in the Bank would try to contact me using the Bank's internal email (I has a separate one for the Foundation). Similar irritation arose when it came to completing my e-learning: I would have to go to a fellow interns office and borrow their work laptop during their lunch hour, this would be informally set up by myself. The management team in my division were supposed to arrange something for me, however this failed to come about.

I was kept reasonably busy. I had a few experiences of meeting tight deadlines and staying late, only a few and a kind of enjoyed the event. If I was bored I could always ask for something to do and the team would be more than happy to find me something, but I rarely had to do this.

They gave me an even mixture of dependent and autonomously based tasks, probably leaning more towards tasks which involve using my own initiative such as press release writing and pushing, blog posts, help pioneer a project and working on the new strategy presentation (which was presented to their board of trustees in Portland Place- I was allowed to watch). Being on only my first internship the amount of responsibility was not overwhelming, it was probably just the right amount to allow me to be creative and learn.

On reflection, I was very fortuitously placed as much of the work and environment of work the Foundation does was complimentary to my degree in Politics and International Relations. I was surrounded by highly motivated people keen to make a real impact in creating more social justice. I was exposed to the kinds of problems being in this line of work faces, lack of money and resources and motivation from the private sector to say the least, hence bettering my understanding the real political climate in the UK. I was also offered a online training course in 'professional banking' which was a brilliant insight into how monetary and fiscal systems operate. I also gained many transferable skills such as improved networking and communication, 'agile' project methodology and meeting targets.

Due to the fact the Foundation is only humble employer of 30 as oppose to the 75,000 members of staff at the Bank, it's office was a quaint size with a tight knit bunch of people. Communication was effective and happened immediately, as oppose to the onus bureaucracy of a large corporation. I witnessed little or no hostilities and no one was arrogant or thought themselves too important- something which one is more likely to encounter in a profit focused or large corporation. Compared to other offices I visited my office seemed livelier, lighter and more talkative.

My prejudice at first was that a small office would be un-sexy or boring but, on reflection, I was so pleased to have worked for a smaller organisation. It allowed me to see and be part of every working section of the company as oppose to being isolated to one aspect. I believe my comprehension of how a whole organisation fits together was much improved because of this. Furthermore, a smaller organisation allowed me to see/ measure any impact I was making, as oppose to feeling like an insignificant cog- this would seem to be a common grievance for anyone working in a large corporation. When I arrived they had organised tasks for me to do and a project to get involved in. Tasks ran dryer as the weeks progressed and I had to source my own work a little more, but I didn't mind this as it meant I had more choice.

Personal development was very much down to me. I wanted to get better at networking, so learning how to make networks was all my own initiative. I'm sure there are tips or more formal ways of accessing networks, but these were not imparted on me. Lloyds Bank offered a free 'Professional Bankers' course which made for good training. There was also a Balance Scorecard scheme designed for you to make goals and review, at the end, how well you had met them and performed. However, I contend the way 'goals' were created was limited to the companies goals and nay room for 'personal development' was squeezed... it felt slightly in-corporatised.

The graduate scheme is definitely one to have on the radar. It allows you to experience four 6-month placements (varies depending on what stream you roll onto) in different locations and different sections of your decided stream. The salary is very decent for a graduate scheme and opportunity to climb once you've rolled off is prosperous. The Bank offers a wide range of jobs, some of which you wouldn't expect to have in a bank such as an archivist. Lloyds has a very agile working culture, you can work from home if you wish and hours can be flexible. this makes them appealing employers.

Absolutely. Other interns and scholars were largely social and we quickly made friends. As a group we organized events such as boat parties, quiz nights, excursions and socials. Big drinking culture and there was a very university feel to it. Despite the age difference, my colleges were quite social with me too. they treated me to drinks and meals on a few occasions and I really enjoyed they're company.

One of the greatest perks of the Lloyds Bank internship was the FREE accommodation; free accommodation in London - that's probably never going to happen again in my lifetime. Hence I was free to save or spend all my salary how I liked. London is not cheap however so the 'saving' aspect didn't go as far as I'd have liked. That being said, I had the best time and absolutely no regrets.

Well it was London so, despite the price, it couldn't get much better. The place is packed with every type of music you like whether it be D,B&techno or pop music, there was a night for everyone and we made sure we accommodated all tastes. The City (where most Lloyd's offices are based) is full of bars ranging from inexpensive to extravagant ones. I would recommend the Sky Garden Bar (at the top of the walkie talkie building which is free to go up if you book and the view is fantastic).

Yes if you weren't lazy. Many of us made time for exercise, social activities and general exploring. However sometimes the fast paced life would get overwhelming and you would need a night off. I believe there is a company gym in the bottom of the Gresham Street office which offers good membership deals. Depending on how many hours you worked many would get home too tired to do anything other than have a drink. Beware, it was quite easy to slip into that cycle. But in the main it was all work 'work hard play hard', which was great because it was only ten weeks.