Credit Risk Analyst Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my work placement at LBG - I have gained so much knowledge both inside and outside the team. I have learnt coding from scratch which is something I always wanted to do, I improved my analysis skills and also got exposure in front of more senior members of the group while presenting to them.

I felt really appreciated and that my work was valuable. I never felt like I was treated differently due to being a placement student and was a valuable team member from day one. My work was recognised and I would always receive feedback and comments, which would encourage me to develop my skills further.

I couldn't have asked for better support from management - we would have regular 1-2-1 sessions at the end of the week, as well as Monday morning meeting to discuss the plans for the week. I never had to raise any big issues, but I would've been comfortable to do so if needed.

I was always feeling busy but not stressful throughout my placement. I appreciated the flexibility and teamwork when it comes to tasks - I was always comfortable to ask for help or share the workload with others, at the same time I would call out if I didn't have much going at that point. This way we always kept ourselves relatively busy in the team, whilst managing to cope with tasks within deadlines.

I feel like I was given quite a lot of responsibility, which I am very happy about. At first I would run my work through other analysts or managers before sending things off to others, however as time went by I was comfortable discussing things with our stakeholders, without the need of going through managers / senior managers.

I think the skills I gained throughout my placement are invaluable. From technical skills, such as coding, Excel and data analysis, that will definitely help me in my future career. The insider's knowledge of banking industry will be extremely helpful at university and assist me with my banking degree. I also appreciate the communication skills that I've developed, such as appropriate email communication.

I admired the office atmosphere - it was quite relaxed, but not in a way that would affect work. I liked the casual dress code - you're more than welcome to wear smart, but no one would be offended if you didn't. We had quite a few socials, which definitely contributed to team building.

At times it was quite frustrating to do things in a different way to your colleagues, such as booking annual leave or filling expenses forms. This was however due to the recruitment company and not LBG. From LBG side I think the placement was organised very well, with initial months spent on training and development to get up to speed and become a resource for project planning and daily activities.

There are plenty of self-development opportunities at LBG, both in person and online courses. We were always encouraged to sign up to different courses throughout the year. They don't need to be related to the work you do in your team, it can be anything you're interested in. There were also external training opportunities. It depends on an individual how much you take out of it.

I would love to return to LBG. I would like to try myself in a different team as I think I learned so much in my current one already, but I loved the atmosphere in LBG. I also like how much LBG cares about diversity and inclusion, and this also something that I strongly stand by.

We were getting on really well and there always things going on within placement students. We'd organise different socials, Christmas drinks, girls' drinks, flat parties etc. As we were spread out across different offices in London, we wanted to give the opportunity for everyone to attend and had a few bigger nights out. We didn't have one with all the placement students across the country unfortunately.

London can be quite expensive but it doesn't have to. There are places a bit further out with quite cheap rents (around £600), if you don't mind about a half hour journey in the morning. In terms of socialising, there are expensive places but you'll find bars that do really good happy hours, in summer time you can have a drink in the squares, there are lots of free events like Late Tate and so on. It's as expensive as you make it!

Working and living in London is great, you have the best bars and clubs on your doorstep. As the office is based in the City of London, there are plenty of bars / pubs to go to after work, where most of the City office workers go. There are plenty of clubs not far from here as well and it's extremely easy to get around.

There were loads of volunteering and charity opportunities. They were all quite different so I think there's something for everyone. We had office events, such as bake sales and raffles, outside of office events such as walks and hikes to raise money. You can always get involved in helping organise conferences / talks in subjects you're interested in.