This review was submitted over 4 years ago, so some of the information it contains may no longer be relevant.
Rating
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The Role
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The Company
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The Culture
- 1. To what extent did you enjoy your work placement or internship?
- 2. To what extent did you feel valued by your colleagues?
- 3. To what extent were you given support and guidance by management/your supervisor(s)?
- 4. How busy were you on a daily basis?
- 5. How much responsibility were you given during your placement?
- 6. To what extent did/will the skills you developed, and training you received, assist you in your degree studies and beyond?
- 7. What was the general atmosphere in your office?
- 8. How well organised was the overall work placement or internship set up?
- 9. In terms of personal training and development, to what extent did the company or firm invest in you?
- 10. What were the perks on your work placement?
- 11. How appealing are future employment prospects within the organisation?
- 12. Was there a good social scene amongst any fellow placement students/colleagues?
- 13. What was the cost of living and socialising in the area you worked in?
- 14. What was the Nightlife like in the area you worked?
- 15. Were there many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work?
The Role
Although the vast majority of the people in the business are extremely nice, certain people on my team were a little stand offish. As my team was spread around the country (including my line manager who was in a different city), it made it harder to communicate and lessened the enjoyment I would have got out of the whole experience.
I wouldn't say I felt particularly valued. As my team weren't all in my office they couldn't see the work I did day to day, so didn't perhaps appreciate the all the work I did. As I said before the one girl who was in my team and in my office was particularly personable so I was worried her feedback to the rest of the team of me was damaged. Which may have impacted my colleagues view of my value.
The support was there in the sense that I could call my line manager whenever I wanted. But in reality he was always on other arranged calls and so it was difficult to get hold of him. Also it didn't make sense to phone someone up for a question that normally you would quickly ask the person next to you. As he was in a different office, those questions didn't really get asked/answered.
I was extremely busy! I had lots of work set by my team, some set by other team and some intern specific tasks. I would say at times I was too busy and was stressed because of it.
I was given projects that allowed me to lead calls and organise my own time. This gave me a lot of responsibility. As my line manager wasn't in my office I was definitely responsible for the planning of my days. I felt like I was left to my own devices, to complete all the work various people had sent my way.
We didn't really receive any training. Most of the skills I gained were really important people skills. How to deal with tricky colleagues and how to approach people when you don't know them. I wouldn't say my role helped me develop any business skills. The role didn't really require any skills which was disappointing. It was just busy and that involved time management.
The Company
The office was okay. Not 'fun' but there was periodic chatting and people seemed to get along. There was a refurbishment half way through the internship and I suppose that made the floor a little more social. In general it was probably on the dull side, but perhaps that is just a characteristics of a banking office.
I would say badly organised. I didn't have a laptop for the first week and a half. As all work is done online there was nothing I could do. My team failed to setup anything for me to do whilst I didn't have a laptop. So I was told to bring a book and take long lunches. The induction for commercial banking was 3 weeks in. The induction should be week 1. We had 3 intern challenges. One of them was launched half way though and made it hard to fit into my daily schedule.
I wouldn't say I was invested it. Nor developed as a direct result of Lloyds initiative. There wasn't any personal training (other than mandatory) involved in the internship. Any personal or professional development was due to my own drive and setting up shadowing days myself.
Subsidised Canteen
For future employment the prospects are broad. So although you may get on the graduate scheme in retail, you can roll off into commercial. Lloyds generally support breadth of experience to enable future management positions. Also the pay is really good for a graduate scheme, but perhaps less than other banks.
The Culture
There was a really good social scene among all of the interns. Many of us lived together and walked to and from work together etc. All the interns tended to eat lunch together and there was definitely a scene of community. Having a community of interns enabled us to discuss the internship and work without worrying about saying the wrong thing to a colleague.
Well Lloyds paid for accommodation which was a massive help, especially in London. But even so, food at lunch and travel on the tubes etc ended up being really expensive. London in general is just really expensive so it was expected, however I did go thinking I would be able to save a little more of my pay.
Near the office were lots of really good bars and restaurants. Some with insane views of the city. Then closer to the accommodation in Angel, were cheaper more casual bars and lots of good clubs in Shoreditch nearby. London in general has amazing nightlife. With all the theatres and comedy clubs in Leicester Square.
Yes, London is massive and you can get up to whatever you want.
Details
Internship (1 Month+)
London
August 2018