Customer Service Advisor Review

For my internship with Lloyds Banking Group, I was on the retail stream. Interns on this stream can either work in offices or branch; I was placed in a Halifax branch. When I got offered my internship, I didnt expect to be placed in a branch, so to begin with, I wasnt very excited. However, when I met my line manager, he made it sound like it would be quite an exciting experience and that I would be able to do much more than I was expecting I would be able to do. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to do much - especially in the first few weeks when I was still learning the ins and outs of the branch. But as the weeks went on, my workload increased and I felt I had more responsibility which led to me enjoying my internship more. However, when speaking to fellow retail interns who were placed in office's, I realised that I could be doing so much more in terms of work if I was placed elsewhere, and this thought made me enjoy my internship slightly less.

During my internship, one of the tasks I was given was to conduct service questionnaires to customers at the end of their appointments with banking consultants. This enabled me to give feedback to my colleagues on areas they were doing well in, and areas of customer service that they could improve on. I feel like my colleagues really valued me and the role I was doing as the feedback helped with their personal development; some colleagues service scores increased after giving feedback on areas for improvment. These improved service scores also led to the branch moving up in the branch rankings of the service zone.

During my internship, I often reported to the branch manager, but also the customer manager as most of my work was centred around her role. They were both extremely supportive of my internship, and were always available for me to bombardon them with questions when necessary. One area for improvement was that I didn't have weekly one on ones with my line manager, like other interns did.

At the beginning of my internship, when I was still learning the ropes of how a branch runs, I found myself twiddling my thumbs quite often. However, after the first few weeks, I found my workload gradually increased - but never to the point where I felt it was a good balance. Although not having a heavy workload was nice at times, I do wish I had more tasks to do throughout my internship. However, as an intern, we didn't receive training in branch and most roles require some form of training, so there wasn't actually much I could do anyway.

At the beginning of my internship. I wasn't given much responsibility at all. However, this was probably a good thing as I was still finding my feet and learning the in's and out's of the branch and how it runs. After a few weeks, I was given some responsibility, but I felt like I was capable of much more.

During my internship in the Halifax branch, I wasn't provided with any training. I wish this wasn't the case as I feel like I could have contributed a lot more otherwise. However, over the 10 weeks, my knowledge of the banking industry has significantly increased and I believe that this will help my studies in my final year at university as I am specialising in finance.

During my internship, I was placed in a branch as opposed to an office, so I imagine the atmosphere was very different to an office. Everyone was super welcoming and friendly towards both myself and other new starters. I found that all staff, including the managers, were able to have a laugh when appropriate which I loved getting in on. However, I did find that if some colleagues were having a bad day, it would reflect in the way they came across to you.

The Emerging Talent Team, the team that organised the internships, were always very helpful with any queries. However, I did find that all communication from them was very slow as they didnt have a telephone number, just an email. For example, I applied for my internship in December, but didn't hear the result of my application until April. As Lloyds Banking Group would have received many applications, I do understand why it took a few months to hear back. However, during the period of waiting, there wasn't much commincation to inform applicants of what was going on.

Unfortunately, during my internship, I didn't recieve any training. I think this would have been really helpful as then I could have contribute a lot more in branch since most roles require some form of training. However, the group and my branch were very supportive of me wanting to broaden my understanding of the group - they helped me oranise shadowing days in different areas of retail that I was interested in.

The graduate programme for LBG is very appealing for numerous reasons: you complete 3 placements within 2 years, salary, company perks and palcement locations nationwide. Doing the internship is a very good route for the graduate programme, as if you do well during the 10 weeks and you have a successful interview with your line manager, you will be offered a place on the graduate programme with no further assessment. I was lucky enough to be offered a place on the 2016 graduate programme.

Internships with Lloyds Banking Group are nationwide. Interns get to give a couple of location preferences, and if they aren't placed in one of these, they are offered accommodation within a commutable distance. My location preference was close to home, so unfortunately I was working in an area with no other interns. If I had known, I most definitely would have changed my location preferences to somewhere where there would have been more interns or graduates as I feel like I have missed out not being close to other interns to socialise.

My internship was placed in an area away from home. However, it was within a commutable distance, so I didn't live in the area I worked in. Because of this, I have no idea about the cost of living, but in terms of socialising - it seemed to be similar to anywhere else in midlands. You can go out to eat for around £10-£15 per main course and get cocktails for £6-£7.

As I was placed in an area with no other interns/scholars/grads, I didn't have the opportunity to experience the nightlife with them. However, as I am familiar with the area, I know from previous experience that the nightlife was good - lots of bars!

During my internship, I didnt have many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work. However, I think this was mostly due to location. Other interns within the group have been fortunate to attend conferences, charity events etc. So there definitely is opportunities, but it does depend on where you are placed for your internship.