Analyst Review

I had a great time at Lloyds working in the Commerical Real Estate area of the bank and sitting in global corporates. The Internship gave me a large amount of insight into not only Lloyds but into the general banking sector. I learnt a lot on many different topics and got challenged throughout with plenty of work and interesting topic.

I felt really valued by my team and colleagues. They were always attentive to me, handing me constant work that wasn't only there to develop my skills but to also own tasks that would go on to help the team in their day to day running of the business. They also knew when to stop giving me work when it seemed to heavy or I had other commitments.

My Line Manager gave me a lot of support and guidance, instructing me on what he expected from me and what he wanted me to get out of the internship and experience. Also all the other colleagues in the team were always there to support me if needed and spent time making sure that I knew what direction I needed to be heading.

My team kept up with giving me constant work. This was work for me to be getting on with myself or bringing me in on their work and then delegating tasks to me to help them with an overall project. They also knew when to slow down when I had other challenge work to be getting on with.

I was given a lot of responsibility whilst on my internship. From the start I was given a lot of trust and asked to carry out large projects that would go on to be used with clients in meetings. I was also allowed to be an external face to the bank, contacting clients on a regular basis.

I think the skills I learnt and developed from this experience will go on to help me with my career path and will have allowed me to make a good start in pursuing a career in finance. Whether these skills will help assist with my degree I am unsure of but it will definitely help if I move my career into finance.

The general office atmosphere was good. Lots of people looking to help the bank grow whilst also enjoying themselves. However, there is a bit of negativity that begins to seep in due to restructures and movements of colleagues and loss of personnel. There are also limitations to the business that Lloyds can bring in and this sometimes irritates people.

The Internship actual organising was a times very poor. At times there seemed to be little coordination between different HR and emerging talent teams. We weren't informed where we would be working till 1 month before meaning we couldn't make plans for the summer because we didn't know our location. The intern challenge wasn't organised before we got there and we were delayed in receiving our task as teams were constantly wrong. The grad scheme also changed whilst we were in the bank and we were not made aware about where we will end up if referred and to what each new role would entail with a week before we finish. The emerging talent team also are very bad at communicating to interns and sometimes struggle to return emails.

They spent a lot of time training me and developing me. Staff from the bank took us through training sessions on different product areas and coverage areas. People always had time if asked to sit down with you and explain their role within the bank and what tasks they undertake to help the bank prosper.

Prospects for working within the organisation from the start were always seen as positive and every intern had a good chance. However as the internship progressed our odds went down as rumours about the internship/graduate scheme began to spread so our chances went from 80% to 50% to 30%. This in large makes interns feel very under threat and actively causes increased competition between interns which in turn creates tension in the work place and increased stress for interns.

There was an ok social scene with plenty of work events and leaving drinks to go to. However, I think more should be done in the early weeks of the internship to get the interns to bond because people didn't start to get comfortable talking to one another till late on in the internship at which point competitive behaviour started to seep in.

Cost of living was great because Lloyds pay for your accommodation in a central London location. This means that your commute is a 20 minute walk to the office. Lunch and supper were your only major costs which depending on how hungry you get determines how much money you have left over

I did not really take part in much nightlife in this area and I instead went out in different areas of London and did different things. Although, Notoriously London nightlife is expensive. I also lived close enough to home so meant I could escape the city and get back to the countryside at the weekends.

Being only in the role for 10 weeks meant that I had a limited amount of opportunity to get involved with activities outside of work. However, in my short time at the bank I managed to be invited to a cricket game at Lord's with a client and then also took part in a charity rugby tournament which was great fun and allowed me to meet many people from around the bank.