Lloyds Scholar - IWCD Recruitment Team Review

I have enjoyed my placement in the Recruitment team. I would have liked a bit more of an induction into the team and what I was meant to be doing, but it was good to get stuck in early on. With a lot of the team going on holiday, I picked up their work while they were off, which provided me with a steep learning curve to begin with - my team were really good at supporting me with this. I would have ideally liked to try a few more new things, as by the end of the placement I felt I had stopped pushing myself quite so much. This was discussed with my line manager who had hoped to get me shadowing and helping in other parts of her team, but unfortunately I didn't get a chance to do this due to family circumstances.

My team were really welcoming, and they have all been really helpful with any queries I had about Lloyds in general, recruitment, or the work more specifically. I have been trusted with important work by various colleagues, and even some coaching opportunities that have become available. I feel like I have a good relationship with my team, and we will definitely keep in contact once I have left.

Only managed to have one 1-2-1 session with my Line Manager which was a bit of a shame, as perhaps I would have benefitted from a bit more direction in terms of personal development and contribution to Lloyds more widely. However, they were very supportive and understanding when I had family issues so I didn't feel like I had to worry about work at the same time, which made a world of difference to my situation. My supervisor was more than happy to allow me the time to run all kinds of events for the Charity Challenge, and allowed me to be flexible in my work.

This varied on a day-to-day and week-to-week basis. When some of my team were off, the workload was rather large as I had to pick up their stuff while I was still learning the ropes so it was taking a fair amount of time to complete tasks. On days where we had extra meetings, I was much busier as on top of the regular work I had to coordinate minutes for the meetings, or at least fit them into my schedule, but I like to be busy. If I ran out of things to do, somebody on the team would have some work they needed picking up - the flexibility was really good.

While my colleagues were away on holiday, I was trusted with their work - emails, meetings, and admin work. This was a big responsibility fairly early on in my placement, but I learnt how things worked a lot faster than just observing. In addition to this, I have been asked to offer advice to candidates about their applications/interviews by myself which was a large responsibility as it could massively affect their career.

Apart from the 'Welcome to Lloyds' session, the training I received was the online mandatory training, plus the Professional Banker Course (and others) through the internship development themes sent through each week. I don't feel like the training will particularly affect or assist my studies as it has been specific to banking and Lloyds, however the recruitment knowledge may help when applying for jobs in the future (not official training programme - just what I've learnt in my placement).

The main office I was based in (Dalkeith Road, Edinburgh) was fairly busy, but not too noisy, and there was often bake sales and other events going on in the canteen. Everybody has been really friendly and welcoming, and I often get a smile from people as I'm walking around the office.

I was given a contact to speak to (my official Line Manager) who I was meant to request on arrival, and speak to regarding any issues, however I was then passed on to a manager in the Recruitment Team and then again on to a member of the team for induction. I felt like this was poorly organised as I didn't know who I was supposed to report to, and the information wasn't really passed down to the other colleagues (how long my internship was, etc.). In addition to this, there hasn't been a plan for me to follow while on my internship other than a certain number of weeks in each team. I have been picking up other people's work in absence/holidays, and assisting with their workload, but my work has not followed a plan.

The internship development programme was quite interesting and allowed me to explore different areas of my own development, however some of the videos on Lynda.com and similar websites I had seen before, and others I didn't think were particularly tailored to my needs as an intern. The Charity Challenge was also useful for developing team-working skills, organisation, and prioritising workload - all skills I will take forward.

There are a lot of benefits of working for Lloyds which I have been made more aware of from working within the Recruitment team. With the flex benefits, and ability to progress easily throughout the company, the organisation is extremely appealing. I would have liked to experience different areas of the company, as there wouldn't be any graduate positions in the area I am interning in. The grad scheme is really appealing however I have heard that it is not very well organised either, which concerns me.

Living in the same block of apartments and sharing flats with 3 other interns has allowed me to make friends in an unfamiliar place where I don't know anyone. We have had flat dinners, gone out at the weekend, and made friends we will definitely stay in contact with in the future!

Reasonably cheap overall but got more expensive and difficult in August because of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival - it made it quite difficult to get around, and events were much more expensive although busier. More expensive in comparison to other parts of England and Scotland so haven't been able to experience as much as I would have liked

Plenty of options for a night out in Edinburgh, and it doesn't cost a lot to get a taxi to all the different places. Nightlife was a bit dead throughout July as there were no students around, but has been busier during the fringe festival. Still not overly busy, but an overall okay night out.

The Edinburgh Fringe festival had loads of shows and events on in August, from art to theatre to musical, which weren't unreasonably priced and based all over Edinburgh. On top of this, Edinburgh is quite historical with the castle and art galleries dotted around for visitors. I really enjoyed getting to know the area a bit better.