Associate Relationship Manager Review

My internship with Lloyds Banking Group has proved to be very enjoyable! I was able to experience a range of things during the 10 weeks and found all of it very interesting and engaging.

I felt very valued by all of my colleagues here right from the very first day. Everyone I have worked with have been very supportive and helpful and have done all they could to make me feel like I am one of the team. The work I was doing was also appreciated by all.

I was given all the support and guidance that I required by both my manager and the rest of the team I was working with. From the first day, I was given the appropriate training and knowledge of my role. Everyone has also been very helpful in answering any questions/ providing any support I have needed along the way.

The amount of work I had to do has definitely increased as the weeks went by. In the beginning I was mainly gaining more information about the banking sector/ shadowing the team. Then as I became more familiar with how to do things I had a lot more work to complete. Although, this was still very manageable within the working hours and the team makes sure of this.

I was given quite a lot of responsibility on my placement. As my role is very client faced - I found myself communicating with clients quite often and also working closely with them to ensure any of their questions/ queries were answered. Apart from this, I found myself doing a lot of other day to day tasks which the other colleagues were doing.

I have gained/ improved a lot of skills on this placement including improving my team work, communication and time keeping skills. All which I believe will be very beneficial in assisting my studies at University. I have also gained training in various banking related programs etc, from which the knowledge gain will assist in some of my modules of my degree.

The office I worked in provided the ideal atmosphere for colleagues, everyone gets along very well and are very supportive of each others achievements. If anyone requires any support/ help with completing anything, my colleagues were always willing to provide assistance and would go out of their way to make sure others are helped.

Before the internship began, a lot of information was given out and a FB group was created to allow all interns/ scholars to meet one another/ voice any questions they may have. A buddy was also assigned to each individual. During the placement, I was able to discuss any matters with my buddy if required. However, I think the referral process could have been communicated much earlier! Given we were told about the process in the 9th week and a lot of changes have come in place - these ideally should've been communicated in the beginning.

I was able to spend a lot of time with my colleagues and also wider teams who were all happy to put time aside to provide the opportunity to learn all about their roles and also were willing to answer any questions I may have/ go through any things in particular that I wanted to know about. There was also opportunities to engage with those in higher positions and the company covers the costs of travel etc.

Good - it is a great place to work and you definitely feel valued and part of the team. Although, with changes coming in to the grad scheme it has become harder to gain a grad placement as now a test/ interview is also required. But all in all it is a desirable place to work and offers many different opportunities to accommodate accordingly.

There was a great social scene amongst all the scholars/ interns that worked in Birmingham. We were all put together to work on a fundraising project which provided the opportunity to get to know each other as well. Following on from this I have made many new friends here and would often go out during lunch etc.

Reasonable cost of living with many places to eat out/ socialise. I was placed in Birmingham, close to new st station. There are many food places around which range in terms of cost so it provides a huge choices of places to eat at. Apart from that there's many things to do in this city which are all nearby and within budget.

Great

Yes - often the team would organise social events for all colleagues after work.