Consumer Finance Intern Review

A summer internship at LBG is a great opportunity to get an insight into the finance sector as well as the various different areas of the company. I highly enjoyed working for the bank. However, some of the days were less busy than others. Thus it is highly advisable to be proactive and reach out to different members of the team or do online training.

I felt like a valuable part of the team from my very first day. I was given the opportunity to participate in a filming to share my experience about the company alongside senior colleagues. I was invited to attend after work dinners not only by my team but also by other colleagues which created a great working atmosphere!

My line manager was always my first point of contact. She has been extremely supportive. Even though busy, she always had time for answering questions or giving me feedback. Furthermore, I could always approach other colleagues who were more than happy to help. Any additional questions e.g. about the Grad scheme could be answered by Graduates.

Summer is usually not the busiest period for companies and this indeed gets reflected in this internship. However, I think being proactive definitely kept me busy and increased my learning outcomes. I usually relied on input from different colleagues to accomplish my tasks. Due to leave this took longer than usual.

As I previously said, I felt like a valuable member of my team. However, I would say that I first had to prove my skills before I was given responsibility. Working in a team of senior members of the organisation was an amazing opportunity which included a lot of responsibility. I did not have my own project however was constantly working on the same level as my line manager.

Having done another internship before, I can say that I did not learn as much as anticipated during my time at LBG. The main skills I gained were related to time management and stakeholder management. I was also able to improve my Excel and Power Point skills. I did learn a lot about the finance sector thanks to online training and day-to-day learning.

The atmosphere in the Edinburgh office was great! Every colleague of my team was more than happy to help. I learned a lot about LBG and individual development journeys which was great. Apart from that any other team in my building was also more than happy to support the events my team hold as part of the charity challenge.

My line manager was not in the office during my first two days of the internship. However, she called me to let me know and organised time for me with other team members which was great. Having heard from other interns, I can say that my internship was very well organised.

LBG pays for the accommodation of those interns who have to move to a different city. This is a very big plus! Furthermore, there are several online training sessions interns can complete. There was also a network event I attended which was a great opportunity to get an insight into other working areas.

The graduate scheme is an appealing prospect within the organisation which I might join next year depending on my end of placement review. Generally I would say that LBG is a great employer that tries to foster young talents in various ways. There are a number of different job opportunities available within the bank which I was not aware of before my internship.

Since LBG paid for the accommodation of the interns we were all placed in the same accommodation. This was amazing! We went out for dinner / drinks on a daily basis. I've made a lot of friends while gaining an insight into different areas of the bank. This also enabled me to share and compare my experiences.

As previously said, LBG paid for our accommodation which is a huge plus. Edinburgh during summer is very busy due to the fringe. Therefore living costs were higher than usual. Also there was no discount for interns in the canteen. Using public transport in Edinburgh is relatively cheap and nearly all of the offices can easily be reached via bus or tram.

I'm not from Edinburgh so it was great to live in the same accommodation as the other interns. We went out every weekend and had a lot of fun. As I previously said, the summer is a very busy period in Edinburgh. There are plenty of pubs and clubs. During August the city turns into a huge venue for comedy, theatre, musicals etc. which is very unique.

As part of the internship we were asked to raise money for LBG's charity partner. We hold some of the events like a pub quiz outside of work hours. Apart from that, there are several networking events interns can attend. The Graduates also organised a get together for us at the beginning of the internship.