Credit Risk Analyst Review

For the most part I greatly enjoyed my placement in LBG's credit risk division. The team that I worked in was very friendly, and had a great sense of humour, which made day to day life enjoyable. The work itself was mostly challenging and stimulating, so completing the work made me feel like a valued employee. Also, LBG's Risk division takes on many IP students, which meant that there was an excellent social scene involving all of the placement students.

The work that I was expected to complete was directly used to inform material business decisions. This meant that I definitely felt valued by my colleagues, as the work that I was completing was crucial, and I wasn't simply being given pointless tasks 'to keep me busy' as such. The placement students at this organisation carry out pretty much exactly the same work as graduates who enter the company as full time analysts, so I certainly felt valued.

Both my line manager and my senior manager were very approachable, and I felt comfortable going to them for help, support or guidance whenever I needed it. A lot of my role focused on programming using SAS to analyse data, and as this was a new programming language to learn, it was inevitable that I would constantly be asking questions about the best/most efficient way to code things. My line manager was very supportive with respect to this.

The work-life balance with LBG was surprisingly pleasant. I expected that as it's a top bank, colleagues would be required to work long hours and would be constantly bombarded with work. This however was not the case, and I felt that the amount of work that I was given was very manageable. Whenever I finished a piece of work, there was always more work available - processes to be made more efficient, simplification, updating of procedure guides, fixing issues with programs etc - so the workload was somewhat in the hands of the placement student.

I was responsible for the completion of large monthly and quarterly processes - calibrations of models, monitoring of models, monthly model runs etc. These were crucial processes which ensured the sustained accuracy and power of the bank's Expected Loss/RWA secured models. In the later stages of my placement, once I had gained enough experience and competence, I was also given the responsibility to present the findings of my analysis to more senior stakeholders from wider teams.

I study Maths and Physics, so most of the technical skills that I have developed in this business environment are not particularly relevant to my degree program - with the exception of an improved proficiency with Microsoft Excel which will come in useful during Physics lab sessions. On a more general note though, the job required careful analysis and problem solving, and the ability to logically form an argument and explain why we may be observing a particular result in the data. The development of these skills will be very useful for my degree. Beyond university, the skills that I have developed will certainly be useful. I have developed office skills like email etiquette, prioritisation of work and general communication skills which will definitely assist me in later life.

The atmosphere was enjoyable. It was clear that the team that I worked in was hard-working and focused on meeting key deliverables, but there was also a definite sense that my colleagues liked to have a laugh. The team had regular social events organised by the Charity and Fun Team, which was a nice way to get to know each other outside of an office environment, and contributed to a more friendly environment in the office.

I thought that the placement scheme was very well organised. I don't have any particular complaints. The recruitment process was good, and it was helpful that we were sent a list of the other placement students which would be joining the company in advance, which meant that I could arrange to live with four other LBG IPs.

In the first few weeks there was a large focus on SAS training, as data analysis using this programming language was a large part of the job. This training simply consisted of being given a booklet to work through though, not requiring much investment from the company. There was a website called Lynda which LBG provided access to which offered a huge range of courses/qualifications which colleagues could work through in their own time. I could never get my Log-In to work for this however, maybe because it's not available to IPs, but I did not chase this up enough to be sure if it was supposed to be accessible to placement students or not.

Prospects within the organisation are great for ex-placement students. Those who do well on their placement year can be fast-tracked onto the Lloyds Grad Scheme which is highly sought after by graduates up and down the country. Also, when full-time roles pop up in my team, managers often contact past placement students whom they know are capable analysts and make them aware of the job opportunity.

The social scene was great. Living with other placement students meant that my best friends in Leeds were other placement students. In the Leeds office there were about 15 placement students who regularly went out together on a Friday evening. Also there are some pool tables in the Leeds office which were basically left for us placement students to swarm every lunch time, which was a great place to hang out and chill with the other IPs.

I go to uni in Bath, and Leeds is definitely cheaper so I thought that the cost of living and socialising was great. There are plenty of affordable options for lunch close to the office, which was very useful. Morrisons, Belgrave, Crawshaws were all favourites. Living in Hyde Park was very affordable as well. Pints in Leeds are mostly under £3 which is great in my opinion.

The nightlife was banging! Leeds has got everything you could want in terms of nightlife. Call Lane is good if you just want to go to a few nice bars. There's loads of pubs. I've seen plenty of live hip-hop in Leeds which has been sweet. Leeds also has plenty of venues which attract the biggest names in house and techno. There's a huge 'studenty' vibe in Leeds, with loads of young people everywhere that are up for a good night out.

Yes there were plenty of outside of work activities that my colleagues invited me to. For example, some of the team took part in the Tough Mudder challenge. Another favourite activity of mine was a cocktail making masterclass. Also, many of the team took part in the Yorkshire Three Peaks hiking challenge. There was also a team pool tournament. There was usually some sort of activity every month or so.