GCA- Commercial Banking Communications Review

I did enjoy my time working for Lloyds Banking Group. I felt very welcome and comfortable with my team. I was able to relax and be fully emmersed in my role and the office environment. The work I was given was not overwhelming which gave me time to explore other aspects of working life and the areas of the bank.

I build strong relationships with the colleagues in my team. We all got along very well and there was no tension. I felt able to ask for advice and feedback. I did however feel that they did not utilise me to my full extent and could have asked me to do more for them; I would have liked to be given more work to do, like they do pass on work to other members of the team.

Every week we had a catch up meeting where we went through what I was doing and my calendar for the week. We discussed what I wanted to get out of the internship and achieve by the end of it. She would always ask if there was anything that she could be doing more of to help me! She helped me get started and introduced me to many people. She also suggested key people for me to know of.

I think I could have been doing more work than I was. I would have liked to have been given more pieces to do and be more utilised by the team in general, rather than just certain people. I spent a lot of time doing extra work, our charity challenge, to fill the time rather than doing set work. This was partly my fault by not being more proactive and finding other activities for me to be doing throughout the day.

There were a few pieces of work I was given to be completed and run by myself. Due to the nature of the company, my work had to be run by many different people before being finalised. This however just meant I had a greater insight into how the system works in the group but also meant that I received valuable feedback and advice on how to improve. Besides a few pieces, I wasn't doing any particular major work.

I have been able to expand my skills in communications to an extent as I have read many pieces of work and have a better understanding of how to write for a particular audience and specific context. I have also been able to put into practice my networking skills and had the opportunity to speak to important colleagues meaning that I have more confidence in my ability to interact with people. It has also helped me find what I like and do not like doing so that I can make more decisions about my career path in the future, beyond university.

We all felt very comfortable. I was fortunate to be in a team that worked well together and discussed topics beyond work matters; making the relationships more personal and therefore stronger. It was great to get to know people and their backgrounds to understand how they ended up in the jobs that they have now. It was also lucky that we had a rather vacant office space, making the atmosphere less tense and work-heavy.

It was great that my line manager had an understanding of how the programme was meant to work as she had done it before. She knew how to go through the aspects of the bank. There was the intention of giving me a project but that unfortunately fell through, so my work was less structured. I was instead given ad hoc work that was not necessarily planned.

We were given webinars that went through aspects of the bank but that related to developing our personal skills. In my placement, I was also given the opportunity to visit other companies and see their working environment as well as learn about the structures that they follow, which was very valuable as it expanded my understanding of how companies run and what they do. Having the opportunity to speak to other colleagues did also help my personal development.

I would like the opportunity to work for the bank again in the future. My time was very enjoyable and gave me the chance to find out more about the world of work. The company works hard to keep its employees happy and have a good quality of life, both in and out of work. I would like to try different areas first to see which part I could see myself thriving in best.

I lived in my own accommodation for the internship as I had a flat I rented for university a few miles away from the office. This meant that I found it more difficult to see all other intern. I did fortunately know a few from previous events the bank held for the scholars. From that I did make some great friends and socialised. The bank did not get involved and put on events for us, we did that ourselves. Not all interns were sociable though and get involved. I had fun anyway making the most of London.

London is very expensive. I luckily know that from being at uni here. It did make certain things hard to do as not everyone was willing to spend the money. Buying things such as food and drinks comes at a cost which is not great as we had to spend money also on travelling. From a student perspective, London is not ideal. This is especially so as much socialising you do is in the pub, which ends up costing you upwards of £20 a night!

Nightlife is fun, but again at a cost. We went out in the evenings a lot to different things such as the cinema, outdoor theatre, pubs, clubs, etc! We found ways to keep busy and try out different things. The group I socialised with just had the mindset that we are getting paid so we can enjoy London and spend the money. I know that some people were wanting the job to help finance university therefore wanted to save more money.

Activities outside of work were mostly personally organised. We did have a charity challenge where some groups organised events in the evenings/weekends to get involved in. It also meant that we met more interns and scholars in the same city and had some time to work in a team outside of the office. It was very much up to the intern to find their own out of work entertainment though.