Intern - Broking Review

My personal experience was amazing because I wasn't given a schedule/plan to follow. I was free to choose what projects I wanted to dedicate myself to, and my managers were constantly emailing colleagues asking them to take me to external events or shadow them at Lloyds. The only downside I would say is that it was quite obvious my team was not ready for an intern, it would have been nice to have a little bit of structure (eg one fixed piece of work per week) because there were times I had nothing to do, so I sat with people from different departments and learned more about what they do.

My team was extremely welcoming! They really helped me settle in, made sure I got to meet everyone and invited me to work socials and other events too. They were so helpful, and made sure I was getting enough work and that I always had something relevant to do. They trusted me to create graphs and reports for clients and gave me really good feedback on it. My team made me feel like I was a colleague rather than an intern, they gave me real work to do and were extremely supportive. Even when I asked to shadow someone from a different department they helped facilitate that because it was something I was interested in.

My manager was extremely busy, but he would contact me via email to check on me and ask if I needed any help. When my buddy left the company halfway through my internship he made sure I had someone there as a "new" buddy, and when he was around he would sit with me and we would have face to face meetings about my progress. My managers were extremely supportive, they let me take on client work and sit in meetings and trusted me to complete projects on my own which was great, and they made sure that I always had help if I needed it.

I had a CSR project to complete as well as doing my day-to-day work, and i found that I was able to dedicate enough time to both. However, the lack of structure means I had free time on a few days. This was good for me as it allowed me to work on some internal projects I had set myself, but I would have preferred some more structure, i.e. one piece of work every week.

I was given a lot of responsibility, but it was gradual. The first two weeks it was just general work, but then my team saw how good I was with Excel spreadsheets and trusted me with a lot more sensitive work, and they let me get on with it. I didn't have to constantly report to someone with updates, I just did the work and asked for help when I needed it and I was free to present my data in different ways. My team was very flexible and gave me a lot of freedom with how I presented and carried out my work.

My degree is more mathematical and applied, whereas my internship was more Broking and the communication between the underwriters and the clients. I have definitely improved my speaking/presenting skills, and I am a lot more confident in my abilities. It has also helped me identify areas for development, which is great because I can work on them and come back a stronger candidate. I have definitely come out of this internship a more mature individual; having spent my whole life in a school/college environment it was so different being in an a professional setting, and its a skill that I didn't have before.

It was a laid back, professional enviornment. The colleagues were really friendly and you could talk to anyone about anything, people are always telling jokes and stories about their experiences but it didn't get in the way of work. With collegues it was very relaxed and informal, you could let your hair down and be yourself. The atmosphere was "pleasant and productive". It was perfect.

I could tell that my team did not plan to have an intern, as such there was no structure/plan for me. This worked in my favor, as I was able to sit with loads of different people and get involved in all their projects as much as I wanted. However I would have liked a little structure, just so that I had something to do when it got less busy for me. The lack of structure, for me, is what made my Internship so amazing, because I was able to get involved with some truly amazing projects.

The company gave me a work phone and a laptop so that I could do real work in my internship. My team really helped and supported me when I chose to take on projects that were outside of the department, and they made sure I was included in all the team meetings and quarterly meetings and I always had someone I could speak to if I needed any help or had any questoins

Very appealing. The atmosphere is something you cannot find anywhere else, and the company is willing to invest in your development - they even pay for your professional qualifications! People in the company say that it is relatively easy to progress in the company, but only if you really want to. Hard work gets recognized and rewarded and the company is very eager to invest in your personal and professional development.

With my work colleagues it was very relaxed and we went out for drinks regularly, but I hardly socialized with the other interns. Some of them had too much work and didn't have time to come out, others had so little work to do that they didn't bother coming to the office. There was a lot of interns in regional offices so we only saw them at the very start and very end of the internship. For the most part, the interns were a social bunch and invited everyone to go clubbing every week, it just wasn't something I enjoyed.

We're in the heart of London, so naturally everything is expensive, but the company gets corporate discount at some local venues which makes it slightly more affordable to go out. Also the company hosts quite a few work socials with free drinks and food, and the places they book tend to be on the fancy side so that's a bonus.

I didn't experience it much myself, but there's loads of amazing restaurants and bars and we get corporate discount on some of them. There's also lots of clubs, and if you go with a group of people its better than going with 1 or 2 friends. The atmosphere is great, everyone is out to have a good time and its really easy to enjoy yourself.

One of the great things about this company is that they are really keen on your personal development as well as you professional development. Its so easy to get involved with activities outside of work, and if you email your colleagues they might even help you out - weather its a charity run, volunteering, anything! You have to let your manager know in advance, but the company (and people) are very supportive.