Assistant Manager in Credit Risk and Regulation Review

There were aspects of the internship that I enjoyed and also areas where I felt it could of been better. Having never worked in a office or in a city, I fulfilled both these things during my time at Lloyds. On the other hand I was given some tasks that were quite mundane and some of my interactions with colleagues I felt were undermined by my position as intern.

My team was made up of two constituents in my office; The Modelling team and the Delivery team: the latter of which I was apart of. The delivery team kept to themselves for the most part and as for my team - my line manager spent most time at other offices around the UK and my other manager had an operation so I didn't see her for half of the internship. The rest of the Delivery team were on holidays while I did work.

Support was readily available during the first half of my internship while my manager was not in hospital. Aside from that, I worked with other colleagues across the UK and could get in touch with them at anytime in order to seek guidance. I felt like more guidance could of been available, not only as an employee but as someone who was on the scholar/intern program.

For the first week my work was repetitive and mundane but upon asking my manager I was reassured that everyone had to do some of that work. From the second week; once I had established a connection with two other colleagues in the same team but in the Southampton office; I was given other external projects to work on which filled my time. This went on to the second last week. During the last week; now - I find that I have nothing but this survey to fill.

My internship had the potential to provide a lot of responsibility. Unfortunately, I believe as an intern my position was undermined. As an assistant manager I was given big tasks to work on in my time as I see fit. The internship program was also made to include no more than 35 weekly hours, with flexible arrangement. As I worked through projects and completed work faster than some; I found it appropriate to finish work early/later on certain days compared to others. Unfortunately this gave my manager reason to criticise and raise issues with my work discipline when there were no issues which caused unnecessary stress. When this cleared up and I made my case to such accusations and work returned somewhat to normal.

I have made some mistakes in this internship but also showed some areas where I shined that I will take with me to my next career step. I know now what to expect in an office environment and what not to expect and can apply these experiences to next time. Things like office politics, work discipline and colleague interaction. I feel like the quality of some of my work could of been better. The best opportunities I received - I made myself, by going out of my way to reach out with the legal team. I spent time with in house lawyers and spent days (while my managers were absent) to gain more relevant experience to my academic pursuits. However, as an optimist I will definitely take these experiences forward, no matter how trivial, minor or small in making my next career move better.

The office I worked in was definitely one of the best offices I could have landed myself in. Compared to offices in London; mine was very spacious, modern and fortunately I did not have to fight for a desk every day. The staff to desk ratio was ideal. Most colleagues in the team were nice but I felt it wasn't very authentic at times. Almost like people wanted to keep to themselves or didn't take me seriously. Maybe it had something to do with being an intern...

There was definitely aspects of the internship that were very good while a few, albeit small things could of been improved. I felt a more structured work flow could of been arranged for me; instead I felt like I was given some tasks that other colleagues simply didn't want to do. On the other hand Lloyds spent money for me to visit London a few times, Southampton once and Edinburgh once which was a great experience. Primarily I was there for work related ventures but on my down time it was great to experience travel and new places.

Throughout the internship I was given development content bi weekly. So on top of everyday work tasks; I was given material by email from an internal team that covered personal development. There was also events to improve skills and qualities as well as opportunities to attend presentations covering interesting topics related to work.

For first year interns it was more about the work experience in respective departments as well as making useful contacts and networking. With that respect it was really about the more you put into it the more you get out of it. As a second year intern you have the opportunity to get a reference at the end for the graduate scheme which looks attractive and is another avenue to consider. As someone looking to practice law - there are opportunities to get on the grad scheme but there is only two places annually so it's very competitive.

There was opportunities throughout the internship for colleagues to get involved in events. Lloyds was clever to introduce a "Making Britain Prosper" element that interns must complete. This was for raising awareness and money for Mental Health UK, which on the surface is a very noble and worth while thing to do. However, making this a compulsory unpaid element of an internship annoyed some interns. It created some events for full time colleagues to attend but it also allowed the company to reap the bragging rights of intern effort.

I worked in Bristol and found it mediocre. Lloyds put myself and other interns 5 miles out of the city, contrary to what they had done in previous years which forced us to spend more money on transport in order to attend work every day. The in house canteen/cafes were expensive also so the only way to save money was to bring in your own food. .. Which was awkward in itself because getting groceries from UWE student accommodation wasn't easy from local shopping places.

There was plenty of places to go to during night time however I did not spend much time out with other interns as I probably should have. I had a few retakes to take back home that I had to both revise for ad complete coursework that I dedicated time to instead. From what I've heard on several occasions that Bristol has great night life.

No not really. There was occasional emails sent out informing colleagues of things they could attend but they were few and far between. When they did arise it was usually because interns have created events for the "Helping Britain Prosper" charity challenge with Mental Health UK as mentioned earlier. Lloyds could improve in this area definitely.