Assistant Branch Manager Review

Overall, I would say I thoroughly enjoyed my internship. I learnt a lot of new, exciting things and got be part of helping Britain prosper plan through the charity challenge which allowed me to collaborate with fellow interns and network. I also got to see the Lloyds values in action and areas that could potential be improved or simplified. I developed personally and gained a lot of transferable skills that I will certainly take forward

I had a very helpful team that supported me throughout my internship. They gave me a lot of advice and immediately made me feel like part of the team. My team definitely made my internship a memorable one and it would not be the same without them. We developed a strong personal and professional relationship and i have no doubt that we will keep in touch.

I worked under various different managers and therefore lacked a clear line manager. This meant that each new manager was unaware of my ability or what I was supposed to do. This affected my development journey as it meant that I didn’t get regular 1 to 1s or clear guidance and support. Although initially I received some support this was not sufficient to help me excel in my placement.

Working predominantly with customers meant that often how busy I was depended on the flow of customers which fluctuated throughout the day. However, because I wasn’t given a project or something else to work on or be part of, sometimes it would be tedious and a waste of my time. However, there were opportunities like the charity challenge and the development journey I would then turn my attention to.

I was often just in the banking hall and so would carry out transactions for customers there and sometimes in charge of the banking hall. I also worked on a small activity for my senior manager. However, often I felt like I wasn’t given an opportunity to make an impact because I was given very few tasks to be a part of or lead. I would have greatly benefited and enjoyed more challenging activities and tasks.

To a large extent the internship has been a very informative process and I have gained skills like resilience and communication from directly working in the bank but also time management for example having to be at the branch early enough to allow time to prep in order to start. I have certainly gained a lot of transferable skills that I believe would help be excel in my future. However, I would have liked to have developed more leadership skills which I wasn't really able to do because of the lack of opportunities I had.

The general atmosphere was very positive. Colleagues were fun and there was a lot of banter. However, often it was also a very stressed environment with colleagues having to work very hard to meet customer demand. The colleagues were very friendly and I felt very welcome and they put me at ease so it was a nice environment to work in.

I felt there was a lack of communication from the central team down to my manger and then me. For instance, I was sent to an induction programme that wasn’t meant for interns. I also felt that managers perhaps need more guidance on what to do with interns because this translated to me not really having much responsibility given to me.

I was given training in different aspects of community banking like customer service skills and financial crime. This was informative and very beneficial. There were also many e-learning modules that I had to complete. There was also a development journey that we could follow which helped learn more about banking, personal and career development. I was also given an opportunity to shadow other parts of the business like private banking and mortgages.

A lot of the problems of my placement were the result of not having a clear line manager and not having a project or task to work on. However, this would be unlikely in full employment. I was impressed with the values that LBG have and try to display and well as their social responsibility. Although, I’ve seen areas for improvement I have observed a culture whereby they are open to new ideas and suggestions.

I lived with fellow interns which was a very fun and enjoyable experience. There were many opportunities to socialise that were organised by the interns. It was lovely to be able to meet so many new people and it was beneficial socially but also professionally because it gave me an opportunity to find out what they were also doing in different departments.

Not too bad.

Good.

No opportunies offered by LBG