Finance Intern Review

Great experience overall, with a lot of learning opportunities. Provides a good insight into the team's operations and the culture of the bank and gives a good impression of what to expect if you are applying for a graduate scheme. My team has been incredibly welcoming and helpful, particularly my manager who has been patient answering my questions and helped me look out for tasks and opportunities. On the downside, due to the nature of the day-to-day tasks, there is not a lot of opportunities to lead projects or work independently (the learning curve is quite steep, especially in the early days, so you need to be guided and supervised for quite a while). I expect that this is no longer a problem once you've been in the bank for a while.

Very much so. Everyone in the team has been welcoming, friendly and supportive. My successes have been acknowledged, I've received regular feedback from my manager. My team went out of the way to ensure I am included in group phone calls and meetings, my manager regularly asked how I felt about my internship (whether I was doing enough work, whether I felt challenged enough, etc.). I've been invited to the team events and dinners, and again the team made sure I was comfortable as the only new joiner.

Very much so. My manager has regularly given me an extensive feedback, we had regular 1-2-1's where we discussed my progress and any next to be taken. In the beginning of my internship, my manager and myself came up with a balanced scorecard of objectives, which made the aims and assessment of my internship performance clear. I was always welcome to shadow any team member. Moreover, I was given opportunities to join other departments, sometimes in other offices. I got assistance in finding relevant contacts to do that.

I had work to do on all days, but sometimes I felt I could be doing more. This had to do with peak times, when my team were exceptionally busy, and holidays. There have been, however, many opportunities to step forward and offer help outside of my normal day-to-day tasks, which I made use of.

I have been given several projects to complete. However, due to the nature of the job (namely, steep learning curve in the beginning and complications if any mistakes are made), I was given thorough guidance and supervision as I progressed. I found this helpful, as this reduced pressure. Moreover, I believe that one will be given more responsibility after slightly longer time in the bank. Additionally, due to confidential and sensitive data involved, many projects cannot be carried out by new joiners, as access to shared drives/software/databases is restricted and takes time to gain. This, again, means that one can expect to get higher responsibility jobs when they join permanently.

My team have been very helpful at explaining capital management of the bank. I believe I understand a lot more about risk-weighted asset calculations, ringfencing, risk and the new regulation introduced post-recession. I learnt a fair bit of Excel, too. I have been given access to Lynda.com, which is a great resource to learn Excel, any IT skills and soft skills. This will certainly assist me in my degree (Economics and Finance) as well as future career in Finance sector.

Everyone has been very friendly and helpful. There is a great balance between getting things done and yet making everyone comfortable and welcome. Daily huddles included roughly 5 minutes of fun, where after going through current issues and successes we did a brief quiz or played a hangman. Things like these I believe are important to maintain an overall friendly atmosphere. Every team member is appreciated - people who left the bank for pension or moved to another team have had goodbye meals and a round of applause, which is a nice act of appreciation.

Vetting process has been very chaotic, I only found out whether the vetting process has been cleared a day before starting my internship. Many other interns were not allowed to join the bank for the first few weeks because of the vetting issues. Other than that, settling in was great.

The bank is brilliant for training opportunities, shadowing, providing learning resources and paying for professional qualifications. Travel and accommodation are also paid for for such things, which gives you one less thing to worry about.

Graduate scheme involves several rotations, which is great to explore new areas of the bank, get a greater picture, and explore new locations. The bank is very supportive of professional qualifications - one can get funding towards this, and some days off for study leave. The application process is, however, very competitive. I hope this goes well.

It was great. Since the bank provided accommodation for the time of the placement, most interns were based in the same student halls, which provided lots of opportunities to get to know people, network and get involved. The Helping Britain Prosper charity challenge and several team presentations offered further chances to meet and make friends with other interns.

Life in Edinburgh is cheaper compared to my university town. Moreover, accommodation was provided by Lloyds. There are lots of events on during the Edinburgh fringe though, which I could not help but go to. I find this a great way to spend money though.

My accommodation is very central. Also, I could get back to the accommodation with the other interns, which made returning home safer.

There were loads of opportunities to join team events, meals and drinks. Moreover, there were many opportunities to run my own events in terms of Helping Britain Prosper campaign.