Finance Intern Review

I enjoyed that I worked in a friendly and inclusive team and that I had a long project to complete over the time. I also enjoyed the generally relaxed office culture. However, the feeling of being placed in Cardiff (with far fewer interns than the London office) detracted from the experience significantly in terms of social life around and after work.

I was mostly working on the significant project at the time and so was valued from that respect. I also was invited along to various work socials, which added to the feeling of being valued.

There was a weekly catch-up with my line manager as well as great ongoing support from my main point of contact in the team. As the teams are close knit, I also felt I could ask anyone in the team for help with an issue, and did so regularly.

Usually there were large tasks which took up at least half a day. Later in the internship, there were periods of little work. I was rarely expected to stay later than 5pm, which was a benefit.

A fair amount as my work went directly into presentation to executives at LBG. However, the work was always checked thoroughly. The work was always set daily by my main point of contact in the team. Within my team, I was also given the responsibilities of chairing the monthly team meeting and the daily team 'huddles', demonstrating that the team were happy to count me as part of day-to-day working life during my time here.

The skills learned on Microsoft Excel will be useful in future work and the softer skills of operating in an office environment and fitting into a new culture will no doubt be useful. I do not think the skills used day-to-day (accounting) will be useful in my degree.

The general atmosphere was very relaxed, with everyone understanding of the need to maintain a good work-life balance. Most people were out by 1700hrs and there was a lot of flexible working. The open plan theme meant that there was always a background noise of people checking in on each other and asking how their weekends were etc.

It was very well organised. It is a large scheme with hundreds of interns around the country and therefore there is a lot of official communication detailing your 'internship journey' as well as inductions (mine was in Bristol so I had to travel), side projects (including a charity challenge and a presentation), and mandated catch-ups with my line manager.

They invested in an online training journey. This was not particularly useful and was quite time-consuming. However, the addition of weekly catch-ups with the line manager was very useful and the Bristol Finance induction was comprehensive in terms of informing us of the graduate scheme at Lloyds Banking Group plc.

There is a three-year graduate scheme in Finance. Interns are likely to achieve a place. However, pay is far lower than in the Big Four accounting firms, though the professional qualification training is the same. Promotion opportunities after rolling off the graduate scheme look normal but there seems to be potential to become stuck in an accounting job.

There were only ten interns in Cardiff so it was limited. However, we did organise a few sessions together. With work colleagues, there were a few times we got together for drinks. Therefore, it was satisfactory overall but it did leave me feeling like I would have had a better social life if Lloyds put me in my preferred place, London.

Cardiff was relatively inexpensive. Drinks out were cheap in most bars. The accommodation was not particularly close to any supermarkets so you had to shop at Tesco Express style shops which increased the price somewhat. However, Cardiff in general is a great city for socialising on a budget and there is something to do every night.

Cardiff has brilliant nightlife. Live Lounge is a highlight, and there are plenty of clubs, bars, pubs, and cheap cocktail places so that there is always somewhere to suit what you wanted that night. I found that even on weeknights during summer when students had gone home from the university, it was always busy and the town had a buzz.

There was nothing set up so you had to make your own opportunities. This was fine- personally I had a few friends from university in Cardiff so I found activities to do. The accommodation provided is very close to a cheap PureGym so I went there most nights in the week, and train links are good so you can travel to see friends if you want.