Summer intern. Review

I really enjoyed my time at Lloyd's of London: having a project to complete that was part of a real work stream made me feel like a member of the team. The set up of the internship made the process a lot less daunting. We had graduate buddies who were more than happy to talk to us and help if we needed it.

My manager had completed the graduate scheme at Lloyd's a few years previously so was really able to relate to me and understood the kind of things that I wanted to gain from my internship. All members of the team I was placed in took the time to explain to me their roles and responsibilities, and answer any of my questions about the insurance industry as a whole.

I was expected to work to complete my project on my own but it was made clear to me that if I had any questions or doubts I shouldn't hesitate to ask. If my manager was away then other colleagues sat near by didn't mind in the slightest if I asked them questions. As a group of interns we were given a thorough introduction into the insurance industry during the first week of our placement which seemed to put us all at ease.

More often than not I had the right amount of work to do. Inevitably I was a bit bored towards the end of my internship as my project was drawing to a close and starting another would have left unfinished work that wouldn't have helped my team. If on a given day I had less work to do I could ask my manager and she would assign me a task that needed completing such as data analysis.

As part of my project I was required to talk with lawyers and other industry experts from different countries where lloyds does business. This was done via telephone call and I had full responsibility for leading the discussion and ensuring that I gathered the necessary information. After completion of my project I was tasked to lead a meeting with the project group to go over my work which was a bit daunting but I felt really good afterwards!

Undoubtedly experiencing the working world during my degree has helped me to realise what I want to do after my studies and going into full time work will be less daunting. Skills I developed such as stakeholder management are very important and as I want to go into insurance I will be able to further develop these. We had to give presentations on our time at lloyds and as part of my studies I have to give several presentations so the practice I have had presenting kt large groups of people will be invaliae when the time arrives.

I think the balance between fun and work was completely right. There were times when people were chatting and having a quick break then everyone would know when too get down to work again. There we're break out areas provided if anyone needed a chat away from the desk environment.

We were aware of where we would be working before we arrived for our first day and the induction week that was provided helped us to understand the company values, insurance and how out placement would work.

We weren't given any training specifically but no doubt we all gained skills from our projects and managers.

I will be starting the generalist graduate scheme with them in September 2014. We were all reviewed in line with company policy and if they were strong we were offered a place a couple of weeks after our internship had finished. I'm excited to be going back!

We were close as a group of interns and organised several events for after work that were great fun. Our graduate buddies made sure that we knew where to go, what to do, and invited us along to networking events.

I don't live near London usually so I had to move down for the eight weeks. Therefore my pay was covering rent and living costs however I feel that I could still afford to do everything that the other interns were doing.

There was a large selection of bars to choose from and several clubs you could go to if you so pleased. Lloyds is right in the centre so you're never too far from where the party is!

I was asked by the graduates to play netball with them once a week in a league made up of London companies. This was good as I got to know the graduates more and see what life could be like of I lived full time in London.