Colleage Protection and Bahaviour Assistant Manager Review

I enjoyed my internship a lot more than I expected to. The atmosphere and working environment were massive contributing factors to me enjoying the internship so much. Also the friendliness and helpfulness of all the colleagues made me feel valued and welcomed. The projects I was tasked with were enjoyable but challenging.

My team made me feel like a valued colleague, including me in all discussions and meetings, as well as valuing my opinion and ideas. Every colleague engaged with me in a professional manner and treated me as an equal, enabling me to feel part of the team. They also trusted me to carry out initiatives and projects.

My Line Manager helped me feel comfortable enough to always know that I can ask for help. She offered me guidance throughout my time on the internship and included me in as many processes as possible to ensure that I had a good understanding of everything. She also offered me support with all my projects. My team were also always there for support and guidance when needed.

I found that the workload increased a lot over the course of the internship, however this wasn't a bad thing. The internship was slightly slow at the start in terms of work load however I felt that this was better as it gave me time to adjust and understand how things worked. I have normally always had very busy days as I have tried to get involved in as much as possible.

I felt that I was given a lot of responsibility as my internship progressed. I think that the work I carried out was really valued by my team and was of a great interest to them. Although at times responsibility felt like a lot of pressure, I think it was beneficial to my experience.

I think the internship has been a really valuable journey as it has enabled me to develop a lot of my skills. I have been able to develop in areas that a normal job would not have allowed, such as being able to understand the professional world and the etiquette that comes along with it. It has also opened my eyes to how my degree is also full of transferrable skills and understand how I could fit in in a corporate environment.

The atmosphere in my office was a very positive one. Everyone was very lovely and willing to help out whenever, as well as always offering career advice and meetings. Personally, I think that if the office environment hadn't been so good I may not have enjoyed my time on the internship as much.

Although I enjoyed my internship there were some aspects that I believe weren't that well organised. I did not receive my laptop until I was in the second week which meant that I had a bit of a slow start. Also as I am only a contactor I was given a temporary pass which I had to get replaced three times instead of simply getting one with a photo ID.

I felt that a lot of time was invested in me in terms of personal training and development. My Line Manager ensured that I had personal development goals that I wanted to reach and helped me in the process of reaching them. Also, there were the fortnightly development journey plans.

Before I began this internship I didn't really think about future employment prospects within Lloyds Banking Group, however after enjoying the process so much I would now consider the graduate scheme. I think Lloyds offer a very good graduate scheme which enables you to gain a broad understanding of the organisation and offers good career opportunities.

I enjoyed spending lunches as well as going to events etc. with the other interns in my building however I did not overly enjoy spending time in accommodation. In terms of amongst colleagues, they made me feel welcome and values, inviting me to events. My team also had away days which were an enjoyable experience.

The cost of living was very expensive as I was in London and this definitely impacted on the number of things I could do during my time here. However the fact that accommodation as well as my flights over and back, were paid by Lloyds was extremely valuable as without this I may not have been able to complete the internship.

I think more social events should be organised throughout the internship that have less of a professional focus and instead more of a focus on getting to know the other interns and make friends, especially at the beginning. A boat party was organised and this was a really great experience and is an example of the type of events that I believe there should be an increase of.