Finance Community Intern Review

The overall atmosphere in the company is great - everyone is very friendly and welcoming. I was hoping for a more technical and mathematical role (and stated this when I applied) but was instead placed in the 'people team' and given a lot of admin work. Despite not feeling intellectually challenged, I still enjoyed the internship.

We went out for celebratory team lunches to recognise work successes as well as birthdays/a pregnancy announcement. On two occasions colleagues sent me official thankyou e-cards via the Lloyds online interchange. Whenever I completed a task, whoever I was helping out would usually thank me either in person or via email.

I had weekly one-to-one meetings with my line manager to discuss how things were going and what more they could do for me. My line manager was on holiday for 3 weeks of my internship and she arranged for me to meet with another colleague during that time to continue the meetings. If I ever needed to be shown how to do something, my line manager and others were always happy to help and would often postpone what they were doing to make time for me.

It varied a lot. For the first few weeks, I had barely anything to do and even went home early on a few occasions because I had no work to do. I told my line manager that I wanted more to do and we asked the wider team to give me tasks. I eventually got into a daily routine where I had several routine tasks that would fill my morning, and I used the afternoons for ad-hoc tasks given by various colleagues. On a few occasions I was very busy and had to work late to meet deadlines.

In the final week of my internship, I presented to a group of 15-20 colleagues as part of an internal training course they were completing. I was also given the freedom to suggest different budget options for next year and present them to our Head of Finance for review. I would have liked more responsibility earlier on in the placement.

The presenting experience was useful, as we don't do many presentations in my degree course. My placement was in the Service Excellence team - training colleagues to be more efficient at their jobs. Through observing and eventually coaching teams on various aspects of Service Excellence, I have learnt general business skills that will be useful in any career path. I would have liked to have been trained in more financial aspects of the business.

People were very friendly and welcoming. If it was someone's birthday we would always get them a card, cake and a few presents, and/or go out for lunch or drinks. Most people shared jokes around the office. There was a lot of fundraising going on for Children In Need and everyone was enthusiastic and happy to get involved. One negative is that most people worked from home on a Friday and the office felt very empty.

Once we found out we had got an internship, we had to select our preferences in terms of area/division of the business and location. You could select two location preferences out of a possible four - I was not given either of my two preferences. We could select three preferences for areas we would like to work in. I was given my third choice (Finance division), however I was part of the Finance Community team and this did not involve any financial work whatsoever - it was very people based. I didn't feel well suited to the role as I had stated several times in my application and preference form that I was looking for a career as an actuary and I was interested in a highly mathematical and statistical role.

I was asked at the beginning what areas I would like to develop, but I was not given any suggestions as to what they could help me with. I completed a Microsoft Excel course during my spare time on the e-learning platform, but that was my idea. I didn't receive any formal training.

I'm confident that if I applied for a job with Lloyds then my internship would be very useful in my application. I would be happy to work for them as they are a great company, but I am interested in a career as an actuary based in the Leeds/Sheffield/Yorkshire area and Lloyds do not currently offer this. If I cannot get onto an actuarial graduate scheme, I would consider applying for Lloyds.

Yeah, very good - we organised a facebook group and got to know each other quite well as most of us were staying in the same accommodation. In the first week we met up for a few drinks to get to know one another, then throughout the internship this continued. There were around 20 interns in total - some didn't participate in the social side of things but the option is there if you wish to take it. We went to pub quizzes, on nights out and sat in the accommodation cinema room watching films/TV. We were also encouraged by the Internship team to meet up once or twice throughout the placement on organised nights out.

I worked in Bristol, which was slightly cheaper than London (but not as cheap as cities in the North). The offices were easily accessible by foot or by bus (£1.50 each way or £1 for students). Lloyds employees (including interns) were given 10% or 20% discount at many of the restaurants near the offices, including Las Iguanas and Slug and Lettuce.

Very good - the offices themselves are in an area called Harbourside, which has a wide variety of restuarants and bars. Bristol has a great nightlife and lots of live music venues including the O2 academy. Thekla is a nightclub boat, which is well worth a visit. There is an area of the city called Stokes Croft that is full of quirky bars.

All interns were allocated to teams and given a 'Charity Challenge' to raise as much money as possible for the Group's charity of the year, Children in Need. We were encouraged to use our time outside work to fundraise together, which also improved the social aspect of the placement. As well as this, there was a Lloyds Banking Group Bristol Pub Crawl where employees from all levels across the business got involved in a fancy dress quiz competition at 6 venues across the city. I was also extended invitations to excursions organised by the company, such as a brewery tour.