Commercial Banking Intern Review

This internship with LBG was good - I felt respected from the moment I walked through the door and was given meaningful work in line with business priorities. The office environment was pleasant and inclusive, with free fruit provided every week and the Place2Be scheme ensuring that there was no lack of plants and other personalisation at everyone's desks!

I have found in previous internships that it can sometimes be quite difficult to integrate into a tightly knit team. However it was not the case here, and having made the effort to attend the department pub quiz and have a few drinks with the team I genuinely feel like I am included and respected by the group.

I can't fault the attentiveness of my managers in this placement. We have had regular coffees to discuss my performance and development, and they have also worked to offer me shadowing opportunities within the bank. Where I have been working with new systems, my colleagues have always worked with me to bring me up to speed through on-the-job learning.

I have been a 'nice' level of busy on this placement. There have been few days where I have been at a loss for work, and the one or two times where this has happened, a quick ask of my colleagues has loaded me back up. My manager especially has been diligent in providing me work that is engaging and not all process-based.

I'm very happy with the level of responsibility and autonomy I have been afforded on this placement. For the lower level work, once I had proved that I could perform the process to standard, I was largely left to my own devices. I was also involved in the higher level management decisions regarding an upcoming change to the team.

As an engineer, I don't think that the skills I have learnt on this placement will contribute to my degree on a technical level. However, the longer I continue in professional working environments, the more I become used to this environment and develop my transferable skills. This will also contribute to my life afer graduation.

The office environment at LBG (Edinburgh) is very pleasant. My colleagues were welcoming from the word 'go' and made me feel included and welcome. LBG has instated a 'dress for your day' policy, whereby you may dress casually should your day permit (ie. dress up for meetings with managers). The atmosphere was open and you feel like you can walk up to anyone and ask them a question.

Only issue I had here was with the security vetting prior to the internship which was, for most interns I have spoken to, an absolute shambles. In terms of the structure of the work, my manager had worked hard to ensure that my first few weeks were structured with meeting other teams and diving straight into the work required by the business. Never a dull moment.

In terms of development, there is the opportunity to take up e-learning modules and online video courses at your leisure, covering a wide range of topics that may or may not be related to your day job. I for example am taking a course in C programming. My line manager was also happy for me to spend mornings out shadowing other departments to gain exposure to the wider business.

I can imagine that, for some people, the prospect of a job with LBG would be highly appealing. The office environment is good, with strong opportunities for progression. In most areas, you are able to go home on-time, and hence maintain a healthy work-life balance. My rating of 5 has no bearing against LBG as a company, but instead reflects my aversion to a career in financial services.

Interns were put up in the same accommodation in Edinburgh and hence it was very easy to get to know everyone working in the area. Further, the internship fell nicely into the month of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and so there were plenty of opportunities to get involved and see some shows!

Edinburgh is neither good nor bad in this respect. I found the costs quite similar to my university in the South-West of England. By Scotland standards, I can see the prices feeling a bit high. You can expect to buy a beer here for ~£5 and food prices seem about average.

Outside of the Fringe the nightlife seems a bit poor, with clubs closing early and a lot of them being relatively expensive for entry and drinks. When the Fringe hit this changes - with pubs and bars closing in the small hours of the morning and an international clientele descending on the city.

In terms of Edinburgh as a city, there are plenty of opportunities to get involved. There are sports clubs and plenty of hiking opportunities, and you are well-placed to explore the highlands to the North. You however do need to organise these yourself, and there are not many benefits along these lines offered by the business.