Contractor Review

The first half of my internship was unproductive and difficult, due to practical details that could have been avoided. I had to complete a 2 hour commute daily due to not being relocated as promised, this limited the hours I could be in the office and meant that I was unable to do the role I was going to do. If Lloyds had communicated with the specific office I was to be in before I started, this could've been avoided and prepared for, which was disappointing for me. However, after the first 5 weeks, things improved. Once the office took stock of the situation and realised how little I had to do, I was assigned to two different projects, and my line manager put me in touch with a variety of people across Lloyds so that I could go shadow people across the country and learn more about the group. I enjoyed this very much as I learnt a lot about the business and developed skills. Specifically I have become a lot better at meeting new people - once I had meetings with 20 people one-on-one all in one day. I've also developed my network dramatically throughout all of these meetings. These last few weeks have been productive, useful and interesting, and although my time is not completely filled the office I am in have been extremely helpful and proactive in helping me seek out opportunities.

Colleagues at Lloyds are all very welcoming. They always have time to answer absolutely any questions, even if you're asking something as simple as what an acronym stands for, everyone is really helpful and understanding. Colleagues also trusted me with different pieces of work and valued my opinion, which I saw when my feedback to someone I'd never met before was taken on board and the piece of work changed as a result.

When I first arrived, due to a change in my line manager before my arrival, my new line manager was surprised and unprepared due to the last minute switch, and I had little involvement with her at the beginning due to the unexpected change. However, after being involved in a project with her, we got to know each other much better, she guided me on my project work and put me in touch with other people in management who also gave me advice and guidance. I was actively encouraged to go out to other offices to experience the business, which extended my network. My line manager gave me good support once I'd been in the office for about 5 weeks, although my first five weeks were a little difficult due to the necessary line manager change, my line manager has been very good at supporting me and helping me develop in my role overall.

Towards the beginning I often had nothing to do. This was because I hadn't been relocated close to my placement, and so the 2 hour commute impaired my ability to be in work at the times that were needed for the role that was laid out for me. This caused management to struggle to find me something else to do; once I got assigned to a project late on in my internship I had a little more work to do, but this project alone was not enough to fill my time. The office I'm in have never had an itnern before and so I''ve fed this back to them, I think if they have another intern it will be different as they now know what's worked and what hasn't. I have become more busy with site visits and visiting people across the bank country wide.

When I got assigned to a project I had a lot of responsibility for being the point of contact in my office. This happened because the two other people in the office were away for a week at the same time. I was asked to create a process map for a new process, and run it through with management to prepare them for the new process, which was a lot of responsibility as I had only been introduced to the project a week before. This taught me a lot and I enjoyed the responsibility I was given.

I told my line manager what my degreee was in and what my personal interests were and this enabled her to provide me with opportunities that linked in very well with my degree e.g. I got to see a lot of performance measurement work. This experience has enabled me to apply it in my degree and compare theory with reality. I have also developed confidence and a lot of people/relationship skills which are skills for life.

Very community focused, lots of charity events happening, and everyone was friendly and helpful. Enjoyed the team I was on and got on with everyone.

I was not relocated to the location of my internship as promised by Lloyds, and so commuting two hours a day impacted the work I was able to do. The office I was placed in were only told my name and no other details, so the lack of communication there meant that the plan for my internship had to be changed once I had begun as only then did the office realise I couldn't get into work for an 8am start due to train times. However, the office did have a detailed plan for each week of my 10 weeks here, and they were prepared, but unfortunately the plan didn't work.

People invested their time to develop my understanding, and through this I developed different skills. Good investment but as it was only 10 weeks there wasn't much opportunity for extensive training and investment.

Gradauate jobs appear very well organised and attractive, and career progressions - depending on the division and office you are located in - are frequently available.

I was not put in accomodation with other interns but lived in my student flat. Living a 2 hour commute away meant I could not socialise much with colleagues, and living in my own flat meant I was also limited wih socialising with interns, but as I live in London anyway as a student I made use of my exisiting social scene with friends so wasn't massively imapcted by this.

I lived in London and worked in Hampshire, so I had the costs of London living and the social scene. Other interns working in London received a living allowance but I was not allowed this (at the time of writing). Have marked this a 5 as the social scene in London is great but the cost is very high.

I was living a two hour commute away from my placment so did not experience this, but having talked to colleagues the town I was in they said it had a poor nightlife and social scene.

Due to the commute I was not offered many opportunties as I was living in a different location, but was able to join other interns ocasionally.