Associate Relationship Manager (Commercial Banking - Mid Markets) Review

I had a fantastic time during my internship, and I got so much out of my time here. I've been to offices all over the country, from Gloucester and Bristol to Cardiff and 3 seperate offices in London, I've met some amazing people from many different departments and in a variety of roles. I've had a chance to do some very beneficial work and make a difference.

Even when I went to visit other offices, my colleagues there went out of their way to make me feel included, educate me as to their roles and support me with my own work where needed. This created a really welcoming, friendly atmosphere. I really felt that I was able to contribute to the team and that the work that I produced was valued.

Whenever I needed guidance my line manager was more than happy to help. My line manager met with me regularly and ensured that I got exactly what I wanted out of my internship - at the beginning of the placement I wrote a list of things I wanted to achieve/departments I wanted to visit, and he went out of his way to offer me every single one of these opportunities. In the office, if help was needed, there would always be somebody who was prepared to set some time aside to give support.

I was incredibly busy! Not only did my colleagues set me up with 3 projects, but as my internship progressed I was also able to do many elements of the actual job. I found myself making lists of things I needed to do all the time. Lloyds are incredibly good at making sure that you have a project on the go which you can work on during quieter times, to ensure that you get the most out of your time with them.

I was very surprised at the amount of responsibility I was given. I found myself being given tasks which were incredibly important to get right - and also in many circumstances I found myself directly communicating with customers, which came with a certain degree of responsibility also. It was nice how much my colleagues seemed to trust me, and this really allowed me to gain an in depth insight into the job and the tasks involved.

The management and organisational skills that I have developed here, as well as my communication and networking skills (you find yourself meeting lots of new colleagues everyday, as well as customers!) will serve me for a very long time. Also, although the support networks are fantastic here, it's incredibly important to take the initiative and solve problems for yourself. As a result my analytical and problem solving skills have greatly improved. These are transferrable so will help me, not only in my degree, but in my future career.

A major benefit of the regional network is that new people from all over the South West would appear in the office every day, so the team was quite mixed! Everyone was incredibly friendly and the atmosphere was relaxed and professional.

Good communication between the Emerging Talent Team and the interns, and the line managers made sure that we had objectives and a plan for the internship. Nice mix of office days/customer visits/trips to other offices etc.

I was impressed by the extent to which Lloyds encourage - not only the development and training of interns - but also of permanent employees. The company encourages everyone to have career objectives and will support colleagues in any qualifications they want to pursue. As for interns, we had a series of webinars which helped give us some general background as to how the bank works/financial sector developments etc. The bank seemed to really want to make sure we got the most out of our time here, and that we had the evidence to show for it.

Lloyds really invests in training interns - we were made aware of the referral process from day 1 and exactly what we would have to achieve in order to get onto the graduate scheme. Following my internship, I would be incredibly happy to work for the organisation in the future.

I've had to only put 5 for this because in my office there were only 2 interns (I was based in the Gloucester area office). I am aware that there is a good social scene amongst the interns in London though! HOWEVER I would give a 10 if this question was just asking about colleagues. My colleagues were fantastic in involving me in social events.

Lloyds' regional network means that most people are placed in an office local to them. Therefore most people are able to live at home - if not, Lloyds will provide free accomodation. This meant that the only expenses were for commuting/eating. Because I was at home, and there are only 2 interns in Gloucester, the socialising between interns was for the most part very limited. However I was invited to an event with all Commercial Banking interns which was a fantastic chance to network and socialise.

As previously stated, I was placed in an office close to home. The nightlife in Gloucester is quite frankly awful. But this really didn't matter to me to be perfectly honest, and the benefits of the placement and working at Lloyds hugely outweighed any nightlife woes.

Lloyds has a number of networks for colleagues - I joined the women's network and had a chance to attend an event in Bristol. We also went to events with the regional offices, and a fantastic networking event in London with other interns. The charity challenge meant that I was able to participate in fundraising events with my charity team outside of the office.