Risk Intern Review

There were some aspects of the internship that I enjoyed, such as how friendly everyone in the office was, but these are far outweighed by the parts that I didn't enjoy. Namely, I was given hardly any work to do over the course of the 10 weeks, and any work I was given was either a menial admin task or was something like making a poster.

To some extent I was given guidance by my manager, as I had weekly one-to-ones with a graduate who was in my team. These one-to-ones were great on a personal level, as my manager was really nice and wanted to make sure I was happy with the placement, but did very little to change my dissatisfaction with my workload and other related problems.

Frustratingly, I was never busy at any point during my internship. I was typically allowed to leave at 4 or 4:30 as my team did not give me much to do. This may suit some people for a summer internship but if you are looking to be challenged, I would suggest you look elsewhere.

To be completely honest, very little. Despite studying quite a mathsy degree at university, I was placed in a department that deals with customer complaints. I was open minded about the placement before I arrived, but as time went on I realised there was very little scope for me to learn or do anything vaguely technical, or anything that might complement my degree studies. Needless to say, I do not see myself working in customer complaints in the future.

The office was extremely relaxed. I was based in the Leeds office, and I noticed straight away that the pace was much slower than what I have been used to and expected. The dress code was casual so most people wore t shirts etc., which created an even more relaxed environment.

In some ways it was well organised, as I was impressed with the way in which they arranged our accommodation and travel. However, most of the interns I know, myself included, were placed in business areas that did not match our skillset or preferences. This makes me question how well distributed the interns were. Furthermore, I strongly believe that my business area had no need for an intern given how little work they were able to give me- this is something that Lloyds need to look at.

During week 9 of the internship, there is a graduate referral interview with your line manager to assess your suitably for a graduate role at Lloyds. I have been told that quite a high proportion of interns are offered a place following their internship, so in that sense the employment prospects are fairly good.

Somewhat. The vast majority of interns are not from Leeds so we were all staying in the same uni accommodation. This made it fairly easy to meet the other interns and socialise after work etc. Leeds is a very good city with plenty of nice bars and restaurants to socialise.

The cost of living was fairly minimal, as Lloyds paid for my accommodation given that I do not live in Leeds. Socialising costs were fairly standard, but being in a city centre slightly premium costs of going out were to be expected. That said, it was a lot cheaper than being in London.

Every colleague at Lloyds has a team day called "day to make a difference", where they will go and volunteer in the local community. We volunteered at a local school, which was a good experience. Beyond this, there were not many opportunities to socialise with colleagues outside of the office.