Intern Review

I really enjoyed my internship, as it has been very insightful into the world of work. I have gained many employability skills and have learnt how a large coorporation functions. I was amazed by the variety of roles available in a bank. The work wasn't too difficult however I would've preferred if I had more to do, as at some points I had to try create work for myself.

I felt very valued by my colleagues, they took me under their wing and made sure I felt very welcome. I'm naturally outgoing, but even if I was shy, I feel as though my colleagues would've been helpful and kind. Even though my colleagues were more experienced and older, I felt as though I had a place in the conversation, and that I had a valuable opinion.

I was given sufficient guidance, which overall I believe made me get more out of the experience. It gave me the independency to get on with my work days, and solve problems myself - espeically throughout the charity challenge. This will assist me in future jobs, to find answers myself rather than constantly relying on managers.

Some days, I was very busy with working with recruitment, whilst doing the charity challenges. However towards the end of the internship, I had little to do except support my other colleagues. Therefore I used this time to create a powerpoint presentation of my time on the internship, as well as writing my CV, and looking at placements for next summer.

I was given little responsibility in terms of work that would affect the running of the business. I did help with assessing, which determined which candidates would become colleagues, and would be talking directly to customers. I had more responsibility with the charity challenge, which I had pretty much a free rein on, and led my team of interns.

I think that my skills have developed over my internship, especially my independence, organisational skills and confidence when carrying out tasks. My communication skills have definitely improved as I have had to create lots of comms for different charity events. These skills will certainly set me up for the future, and can be applied to pretty much any situation.

The atmosphere was always cheerful, with someone there to always talk to. Throughout the 10 weeks that I was there, there was several events created by Culture Club which were fun and a good way to get talking to people. It's always busy as well, meaning that I never felt lonely in the office.

It was quite well set up, I followed an itinerary given to me by manager for the first 2 weeks, and then I was passed to a colleague, who I supported with work. I had regular check-ins with my manager to see how I was doing. I also got set objectives before my work placement properly started.

They invested little. I completed the same mandatory training that every colleague does. However I did get opportunities on the placement that other colleagues wouldn't receive, such as networking and shadowing in a variety of departments, giving me a varied knowledge of each part of the business. I found call listening quite interesting.

I would like to pursue a career in Lloyds after I graduate, though my degree has little to do with banking, I think I can use the skills from it to aid any career I may have. I have used the resources on Lloyds and looked at the graduate scheme, which interests me because throughout the 3 placements, you do something different and get a vast knowledge of the business. This motivates me to do well in my degree, as well as bulking out my CV with more placements in the future.

There was a limited social scene amongst the interns, so I went home pretty much every weekend, as no one fancied socialising due to their long commutes and getting used to the 9-5 lifestyle.Out of work, there weren't social events with my colleagues unfortunately, however I would've liked to have gone for drinks after work. I think this is partly due to the flextra shift patterns in Connect, which is where I was working.

The cost of living was good, as I got it provided by Lloyds, Prices for food and drink were reasonable.

I have been out in Leeds, though before my placement, and it was very good.

A lot of charity volunteering which I took apart of and and found very satisfactory.