Intern, Retail Banking Review

I enjoyed my Internship a lot more than I thought I was going to. When I first found out that I was going to be based in a branch, I was worried about what this was going to entail and whether it was really the challenging environment that I was after. The first two weeks or so were just me trying to get use to everything - as with any Internship there was a lot of new jargon to pick up as well as learn about the company's products. Over the rest of my Internship, I just began to enjoy it more and more: once I was settled in, the project assigned to me, to improve the service of the branch, started, and this was a great opportunity to get talking to people to find out what they think we can do better. I also implemented new strategies to help reduce queueing times.

I felt very valued by my colleagues. At first I was a bit unsure about working in a branch environment and as the Intern amongst a number of people who had worked in the branch for years, had been fully trained, and knew what was what, it did feel a bit daunting and it was hard not to feel out of place. However, as time went on and I spent more time with team, inevitably I began to felt more comfortable with them and I've found common ground with many of them and have formed some good working relationships and friendships. Whilst they were slightly bemused and felt a bit threatened by me to begin with (since some thought I was undercover boss!), they have supported me with my development throughout the 10 weeks.

Wasn't given a huge amount of support by Manager, but that was mainly because his position meant that he was constantly busy with a number of other tasks. However, if it was something important or I wanted to run an idea by him that would help to improve an in-branch process, he was always happy to listen and offer help wherever possible. On top of that we had weekly 1:1s as well to monitor my progress and to ensure that I was performing at a high level and to discuss areas of improvement during my time at the Bank.

I was lucky in the fact that the branch I was assigned to was incredibly busy; like anywhere we had our quiet days, but for the most part I've always been kept busy by customers and colleagues alike. The best part about this was that no two tasks were ever the same: every customer has individual needs and different questions, so no two situations would ever be the same, which was great because it meant I could expect numerous challenges that tested and improved my knowledge every day.

It would be a fair to say I was given a good level of responsibility during my Internship. Whilst there was scope for additional responsibilities to be assigned, I was placed in control of the Banking Hall for much of my placement and had been tasked with increasing the awareness of the importance of customer service amongst colleagues. I was also given a responsibility that meant I was the face for most of our customers since I spent time speaking to many about the services they use and how LBG as a company influences and fits in to their daily lives.

I'm hoping to move on to the LBG Graduate Scheme when I graduate. The one skill I believe that I will carry through life with me is Customer Service; before this Internship, I had never done a customer facing role before and so this provided me with an excellent opportunity to develop these skills and give my confidence a boost. Other skills that I can take with me include team skills and complex problem solving. Skills and knowledge that I've picked up around Banking will of course help me out if I'm successful with my Graduate placement, or any job with any financial institution for that matter.

The general atmosphere in my branch was good - everyone was friendly and upbeat, and the great thing was is that customers saw this too. There was always a bit of banter going on, but it is important to note that everyone was able to get serious when they needed to, such as when it was important to highlight an area of improvement for a colleague.

The organisation of Internships in Lloyds Banking Group isn't as good as it was before. I had already completed one Internship with the Group and back then we were notified of our intended position and location around the end of April - this was a good amount of time because it gave us something to focus on during the stressful exam period, plus it gave us time to make arrangements as necessary. For my 2015 Internship I didn't find out where I was going to be placed or what I was going to be doing until well under a month before I was due to start. This is poor performance on the part of LBG and has seen complaints from many Interns because of the potential for stress and inconvenience.

The company ran a few Webinars for Interns to clock onto, but can't really say that I picked up anything from these since they were only about the basics of banking, which is something I think you should already have a grasp of if you're going to be going into an Internship in this industry.

The future employment prospects are great. As part of the Internship you'll be eligible for a referral to the LBG Graduate Programme, one of the best in the industry with a great starting salary and a lot of perks too. Although it's up to your Line Manager to give you the referral, it's HR who are the ones to decide who gets offered a job and who doesn't. But knowing you have this as an opportunity at the end of the Internship is certainly the kind of thing many people need to have to aim towards.

In one word: no. There was roughly 10 of us, maybe a few more, based in Birmingham. We were all distributed around the city, but even then still with striking distance of the centre. We'd 'tried' to get together on a few occasions for drinks and a catch up, but it never really materialised. The only times I saw the rest of the Interns were when there were mandatory workshops or events to attend and then we'd get together after these, the issue was simply getting everybody to the same place at the same time.

Birmingham is a great place to live and work. As the UK's second city, it boasts a great night life and lots of culture of explore, but without the high price tag associated with other British cities. With the development of the new Grand Central shopping centre and a number of other large-scale projects, I believe that it is the place to watch out for over the next few years.

The Birmingham nightlife in general is great, can't really say the same about the area in which I worked however.

There weren't really any activities outside of work to get involved with per se. We had a charity challenge to take part in as well as a challenge from the retail HR team to identify any processes or services we think we could improve. These were quite good as they allowed me to interact with Interns from around the country and it removed the remoteness that it is easy to feel when you don't really get to see Interns in the immediate vicinity.