Intern - Regualtory Reporting Review

The people in the team are probably the element I enjoyed most. There is a very collaborative culture and friendly atmosphere at Lloyds Banking Group. No shortage of office banter and social occasions with colleagues. Most of the work I was given was enjoyable but I was given some filing and other mundane work which I was happy to do but wouldn't say I enjoyed.

I was made to feel very welcome by my colleagues from day one. They all made an effort to invest time in me and show me what they do. As I earned their trust they gave me progressively more difficult and interesting work. By the end I felt more like a full member of the team than an intern and was treated like it.

The management style was ideal for me. I enjoy working independently and being given free rein to tackle a project in the way I see fit and at my own pace. That being said my manager was always there to support me when I needed and put aside plenty of extra time to get me up and running in the initial weeks.

This varied week by week. Most weeks I had the right amount of work, there was a week when I had too much but I enjoyed the challenge. The last couple of weeks I have not had quite enough work but have had something to every day and then have managed to be proactive enough to seek out work to stay busy.

About as much responsibility as I expected. About half my work was analysis for not-very-senior stakeholders but I was given full responsibility for it. About a quarter was mundane tasks such as filing and about a quarter was writing important commentary for packs that go to many senior management colleagues.

The skills I have learnt will probably not assist me with my degree to a large extent. With my future career however, should it be in Finance, then what I have learnt will be very useful. I have learnt a lot of concepts, terminology, so-called soft skills and practical things like Excel skills.

Within my team the atmosphere was great. Loads of banter, everyone gets on and a big effort made to be inclusive and friendly. Even when the workload was too much and people are stressed it barely shows. I noticed some of the other teams in the office didn't share this atmosphere but that made little difference to me.

The central HR team that arranges internships did fairly good job although the grad scheme referral process was very late to be communicated. My specific team could have done with thinking a bit more before I arrived about what I'd be doing but I think they weren't sure what I'd be like so wanted to tailor the work to what they thought I could handle when they met me.

They ran a few development events and opportunities where you did things like learn Excel, meet senior colleagues for ask-me-anything sessions or complete a group project. I certainly learnt a lot but mostly from my team and by learning-by-doing rather than from development events arranged by the central HR team.

For me, very appealing. The graduate programme is very attractive and includes 3 or 4 placements in different roles over 3 years whilst completing a professional qualification like chartered accountancy. The graduate scheme salary is slightly lower than industry average but not uncompetitive. I think this is balanced out by a culture of healthy work-life balance.

The social scene amongst colleagues is about as good as expected with some kind of work social event every other week or so. Amongst fellow interns it is good for most as most live together in a big student accommodation and so socialise all the time. I live in the city anyway and so didn't request accommodation and probably missed out on some social opportunities as a result.

In Edinburgh prices are probably above average but not extortionate. Interns get accommodation covered if they don't live in the city already and food and drink is not too bad. There is also absolutely loads to do in Edinburgh especially as the internship runs when the Fringe festival is on.

I'm not the kind of person to go clubbing so couldn't say but it's about £4 for a decent pint and there certainly are many nightclubs.

I was involved with a community events committee so got involved with supporting a bbq event. It was a good event to go to as it was fun and was a god chance to do some networking. Outside of that, there were a few events to go and see shows with the team.