Intern - Lloyds Bank SME Commercial Review

Having done 2 placements with Lloyds Banking Group, I enjoyed my second one more. This was partly because I am a year older, and thus was given more responsibility. It also helped that Lloyds was more sensitive to what I was interested in when they placed me. However, I felt at times that the work they were giving me was tedious, and that there was not necessarily enough work to go around.

Both my line manager and the rest of the team have appreciated having me on board. I think they have recognised that there are things I can add, such as technical skills, which they lack to the same degree.

My line manager was very good and giving support and guidance. We had weekly one-to-ones to review my progress, and see what had gone well that week and what I could improve on.

On a daily basis, the workload was very light. Considering I was working 9-5, I probably had about three hours of work, and the rest of it I spent reading the newspaper, or on othe online sites to keep myself entertained.

I was given relatively free reign, in the sense that my boss was quite happy for me to deal with things independently of him. However, the nature of the tasks - except for a couple longer projects - meant that it was actually that important a level of responsibility.

I would say I picked up few new raw skills on this placement. However, I think it improved my communication skills, which is something I struggle with sometimes. Moreover, it was stressed that I prioritise work well, and I think this is something that I will carry back with me.

The atmosphere in the office was great. It is a physically small office, and there are normally 3-4 people in it. Because it was away from the main sites, it was a lot more relaxed than them, and it made the day a lot more enjoyable as we could chat and joke around a bit.

My placement was well organised from a company perspective. They laid on an opening event for all the interns and have sent us communications throughout the internship. However, I feel that my line manager probably could have drawn up a couple long projects for me to work on over the summer, which did not happen.

Lloyds provided a few webinars for the interns to dial into. In theory, this is not a bad idea. However, in practice, much of the information was teaching us to suck eggs. Moreover, there was very little from the company in terms of personalised training and development.

I could imagine myself doing the graduate programme with Lloyds, however I cannot see myself as a long term employee of Lloyds. However, I think this reflects less badly on them, simply that they do not fulfil want I want to do in the long term.

There was a good social scene among the fellow interns. We went out together, had drinks together, and lived together, so we spent quite a lot of time with each other.

The cost of living was very low for us, as Lloyds gave the interns free accomodation, which is the main living expense. However, being in London obviously means that socialising is quite expensive, so this was by far the largest part of my expenditure.

The nightlife in London is obviously amazing, so that wasn't a problem. Moreover, I was working by Oxford Circus, so it was easy to get into Soho, while with friends working in the City, it was easy to go to Shoreditch. We were spoilt for choice.

Lloyds themselves provided very few activities outside of work, though there were a couple. However, because I had a lot of friends in London, I had relatively little interest in engaging with the activities Lloyds had to offer.