Finance Business Partners - Financial Institutions Review

To role was both insightful and challenging, learning key components of the banking world which I was otherwise oblivious to. It has introduced me to what I like about banking and also what I don't like about banking, as a result it has been extremely helpful in deciding my future career.

Every colleague is happy to answer questions no matter how trivial, and help with your development - which I found to be invaluable. The only reason this doesn't score higher is that some of the tasks given can be monotonous and at times left with not a lot to do - which makes it hard to add value to your team.

My team was extremely supportive no matter what the scenario, always willing to spare 5 minutes or so to run me through my query and ensure I understand what I'm doing. We would have weekly catch ups to ensure I was doing okay, feeling okay and to ensure I understand everything - also learning sessions to go over slightly more complex components.

I personally was left with a few big pieces of work which kept me busy for most of the time, but when these dried up it really was dribs and drabs of work that I was helping with, where I know this to be true for other colleagues who were often left twiddling their thumbs around very basic monotonous tasks.

I was trusted with some big pieces of work which were actually very important to my team - which was nice to be a part of and very insightful. I was also given responsibility to take over the team admin and organise various things, which I think was very valuable to both my team and my personal development.

I am a strong advocate that the skills and lessons learnt though this internship will propel me to better things in the future as it has built my confidence, independence, decisiveness, assertiveness, team work as well as an array of other qualities. It is an invaluable experience for anyone hoping to go into banking.

People were devoted to working but it was a nice relaxing atmosphere. People will stop and talk and go for casual coffee etc with a more laissez-faire approach (unless looming deadlines) but there will be long spells of silence - which is somewhat expected, and not a bad thing, but I wouldn't call it 'lively'.

It was organised to a decent standard, I know there were heavy delays with certain set ups for myself and other people but the structure was there. Regular fortnight emails with an 'internship theme' to help you progress as much as possible during your time here was a nice touch, with various networking and learning events set up too - also the charity challenge and the internship challenge which is extremely valuable for personal development and supporting UK charities.

There was some mandatory training early on in the internship which highlights the framework of the bank and helps you to gain foundations of knowledge but then the rest is basically what you make of it. Other than weekly meetings to check progress and ensure everything is going well there isn't much else unless you look for it. If you're a driven person there are a lot of things that Lloyds will offer for personal development with various opportunities etc.

Impressing on this internship can fast track you to their graduate programme, where the networks you build within the bank are also extremely valuable if you are looking with a future with them - its somewhat obvious that they would rather invest in someone that has an impressive background experience of Lloyds than someone who doesn't.

There was a graduate and intern boat party hosted by the bank, and a few networking events & learning events where people can mingle. Yet I wouldn't say the social scene was anything admirable, there are many interns that attend this bank annually and I would say I met potentially about 25% of them

As part of the internship scheme Lloyds are extremely generous in providing accommodation local to the workplace, as such travel costs and rent are not an issue. They also pay generously per week so I don't feel as if I've struggled to cope with living costs or going out with other interns in the surrounding area at all.

So I was based in Central London, which obviously provides a lot of things to do. As a result the nightlife was pretty enjoyable. As previously stated, Lloyds are happy to pay for accommodation for their interns as well as weekly wages so it was never a struggle to enjoy the nightlife here.

As part of the charity challenge hosted by Lloyds for their interns there was countless things hitting my inbox from pub quizzes to special guest talks & meditation session. Creativity here is encouraged by Lloyds so there really are a lot of things you can get involved in outside of work.