Strategic Debt Finance Intern Review

I overall enjoyed my internship in Strategic Deb Financing. I learned lots of skills that I never would have otherwise, jus as learning how to analyse company's account, understanding key financial figures such as EBITDA and CFADS, and understanding the many risks that may prevent investment in a business. The hours were fine and the workplace was fine.

My team was very small, but even so I felt like my presence was helpful by doing tasks to speed up some processes. My feedback in my one to one was useful and made me feel valued and would like to come back and work in the team further if \I had the chance. The only negative is that event such as discussing some work I did would be pushed back/forgotten occasionally, and unfortunately one of the directors in my team left before he could complete it with me.

I have nothing but positives to say about my line manager. I came in with almost zero experience of business in the real world, but every question I asked was given a detailed response, breaking complicated parts down for me and including an example whenever possible. I feel I know more about usiness now than some of my friends who are studying economics.

I feel that on most days, I had enough work to keep me busy for the most part. This issue is slightly complicated, as the area I am in is having a downturn, with very little deals or investment opportunities coming up. I have heard from other people that last year and the year before it was very busy in this division, but the economic downturn and Brexit meant there wasn't as much work this year as before.

I was given some responsibility, as I completed tasks such as financial modelling and competitor analysis. Some of these tasks would've ended in the final credit paper, if some of the deals had completed. I believe this question in unfair, as even my line manager doesn't have full responsibility and needs to have permission to do things, so it would be impossible for me to 'run the show.' verall I do feel like I had a small impact on my division.

Learning to understand business risks, such as sector and cyber risks, will help me if I ever decide to create my own business in the future. In addition, I completed some financial modelling, which will be very useful to put on a CV, and worked as a team in order to give a presentation of a case study to higher ups. All of this experience will help me in the future.

Th atmosphere in the office was very quiet, owing to some lay-offs to some lively directors. I personally didn't mind it too much, but extroverted individuals who needs someone to talk to would find it difficult. The office was very cold all the time which was a big negative for me, it could affect my work as every hour I'd have to move out to warm up.

I think the placement was organised well by my line manager, as at my actual work I had enough to do and knew what I would be working on the next day. What let it down was the extremely slow IT response to getting me setup, as I only gained access to a key shared area over halfway into my internship. In addition, the London team which are in charge of markets and loan acquisition many times did not realise that I was based in Birmingham and not London, which caused me to miss some events or for me to repeatedly ask for a dial in number.

The future employment prospects are very appealing. The wages and the bonuses of working in Lloyds in very tempting, and is a great thing to put on the CV. The only negatives are the need to seemingly work in London, which does not appeal to me in the slightest, and the difficulty of the new graduate referral process.

The social scene was a bit lacking this year, although I believe this is due as a lot of people this year continued to live at home, rather than staying in the provided accommodation, which meant that there were no nights out between the interns this year, which was a disappointment. Occasionally we had lunch together or took breaks together, which was fine but rare.

Well my accomodation was paid for, so that's the biggest cost of livng gone! In terms of food and transport costs, everything was pretty affordable and Birmingham's Bullring/high street is also decent for clothing. The costs of socialising like goin to the cinema or just going to a bar and drinking/eating are also fine, not mega cheap but pretty good, with lots of student offers everywhere.

I didn't personally go on nights out with the interns, due to the issues stated in other questions, but I can answer it from my own experience. There's many bars and pubs to go to, in order to have a more chill night socially drinking, and a few wetherspoons to go pre-drinking in. Many different clubs for different types, all pretty close together. Some can be pretty expensive mind.