Commercial Banking - Mid Markets West Midlands Review

The internship was very enjoyable and was a great insight into the world of Commercial Banking. I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with the Birmingham team and learning about the various different roles that make up the 'front-line' team. In addition, I was given ownership of a few challenging projects which again enhanced my experience and levels of enjoyment.

The team culture amongst the Mid-Markets team in Birmingham is a great atmosphere to work in. All colleagues, no matter how senior, managed to find time to assist me when I needed their help. In this respect, I would definitely suggest that I felt valued by my colleagues.

My line managers were very supportive of my personal goals whilst with the company. They ensured that my experience was vaired and engaging. We had regular catch ups which helped to ensure that I had a steady work load and at the sametime, a chance to address any areas queries I had throughout my time with the company.

I was given a huge responsibility and left to lead a project that required a significant amount of stakeholder intervention. This project kept me very busy throughout the first half of my placement. I also spent a significant amount of time working with other areas of the Mid Markets team which again ensured that I had a good workload to keep me going.

The responsibility I was given on the main project I led was fantastic. I was entrusted to manage and progress the project without reporting to anyone. This was a great level of responsibility and really helped to enhance my experience with the team. in addition to this project, I was always given the responsibility to manage my own workload, diary and way of working. This is another example of the levels of responsibility I was given throughout my internship.

I believe that the experience I gained on this internship will not only serve me well when returning to my studies, but will also help to kick-start my commercial career. I was able to enhance both my analytical and commercial skills. This experience has really helped me to discover my strengths and gave me the perfect opportunity to develop on my areas of weakness.

The colleagues in my team are all very experienced and have created an environment in which there is a great work / life balance. This really helps to lift the atmosphere of the office, making it an enjoyable place to work.

My line manager was personally very organised in regards to my internship. I would therefore suggest that my experience was very well organised and cannot fault the process in this respect. I would however suggest that this organisation was driven by line manager which makes the process very heavily dependant on line managers.I can understand if others did not have the same experience.

There were a few seminars at the start of my internship that acted as a perfect introduction to the world of banking. In addition, the commercial world is one of constant change and as such I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the regular training sessions that were booked in for my colleagues. This again aided my personal training and development

The internship has a very natural progression onto the Lloyds Grad scheme which is obviously dependant on your performance throughout your internship. The organisation as a business is huge with such a wide range of competitively paid opportunities. In this respect the employment prospects at Lloyds are very appealing.

I was fortunate enough to have a few interns on my floor and we were brought together by the Charity Challenge we were set which runs alongside the internship. This meant that I was in daily contact with the other interns which naturally led to a good social scene.

Colmore Row is in Birmingham City Centre and as such the social life is good enough to satisfy the needs of most. In terms of cost of living, I was close enough to travel from home and those that weren't were given accomodation.

The nightlife in Birmingham is great with plenty of Bars / Clubs to keep everybody happy. There are also plenty of Restaurants, Casinos, Pool halls and Cinemas for those that prefer an alternative.

Along with the other interns, we were tasked with raising as much money as we could for charity. This meant that we had plenty to do outside of work. There were also a significant amount of professional networking events in Birmingham of which we could get involved in.