Summer Intern Review

My internship was in retail, where I was placed to work in a Halifax branch more than an hour away from my home. When I applied to the internship, I had no idea that interns could be placed in branches, and was therefore rather surprised when this happened. When I arrived in branch, no one seemed to know why I was there and what I was supposed to do, and the first few weeks were therefore very confusing. Although I have enjoyed working with customers, I felt that my placement was not very well thought through, as it is very limited how much value you can actually add, when you are not allowed to work with the systems etc. I therefore think that the Lloyds Banking Group should reconsider the placement of interns in branch, as there are so many things we cannot do, and there is a limit of how much value we can add.

My colleagues were very friendly and kind, and welcomed me warmly. As mentioned earlier, no one really knew why I was there, and it was also very limited what I was able to do. However, they encouraged and supported me throughout my time there, and they have all said that they will miss me when I'm gone.

The person who requested me as an intern had left by the time I arrived, and I only got to know my new line manager two days before the internship started. This person only stayed on for two weeks, and the new manager therefore knew little about "what to do with me". Although we got along well, this new person had too many things to deal with, and therefore I had to find my own way of doing things. We only discussed my tasks in week 7, which was a great conversation, only that it should have happened in week 1.

The days went by rather quickly, and most of the time I had something to do. The branch was rather under-staffed at times, which meant that there was too much to do for everyone.

Since I was in a branch, it was not a lot of responsibility to be given, but I had some basic tasks like managing the branch diary and choreography plan.

My placement helped improved my understanding of retail banking to a great extent, which have generally been useful in relation to my own personal banking. Also, I have significantly improved my people skills and adaptability, as I have worked with all sorts of people. I don't think I the placement will directly assist me in completing my degree, although I am able to better identify and understand some of the changing demographics of the UK and how it affects various sectors.

The atmosphere was generally good, although some colleagues really did not like each other, which could affect the team quite negatively. But after some resolution meetings, they seemed to be able to solve this.

From the Lloyds Banking Group's side, the internship did not seem to be thought through at all, No one knew why I was there and what I could do in a Halifax branch, and it seemed like the Emerging Talent team had placed me in a branch just because they wanted more interns. The line managers get to request interns, which means that the Emerging Talent team has little idea about what the interns are actually doing. After a few weeks, a graduate on the retail scheme organised a workshop for a few Halifax interns, which was really good! Yet, this was something the graduate had initiated, and not something Lloyds Banking Group did. Also, when I applied and was accepted to the internship, I had the impression that I would actually get to work in London, where I already have a flat and pay rent. However, I was placed more than an hour commute away, which also cost me £18 per day, which LBG first did not want to refund me back (I could only claim this after submitting a list of my expenses, when they realised that I would actually lose money on working for them if I did not have the money refunded). I am not impressed with how LBG has handled their interns, and I hope they put a significant amount of effort into improving the scheme for next year.

The company organised a few webinars and conference calls, but did not invest in the interns going into the branches with things we actually needed to know. It was only in week 7 when I found out some of the things I could do, other than helping out in the banking hall, which was too late in order to actually add value to my branch.

Lloyds Banking Group seems to have some very good Graduate Schemes, however, after my experience with the internship, I am not sure if this is what I would like to do.

I missed out on most of the social happenings with the other interns, as there was no one in my branch, and I lived in a flatshare with some other friends. However, I met with a few other interns at various workshops and conference calls, which was good.

London is expensive, and the pay was just OK. I didn't socialise with the other interns, as they all lived in student halls, so I therefore stayed with my other friends.

Since I commuted, I didn't get to experience the nightlife where I worked. I mostly enjoy going out for dinners and to pubs, so nightlife is not considered that important to me.

A part of the internship was the charity challenge, which was quite OK. We worked in teams to raise money for BBC Children in Need. Although it was not very well explained or presented at the Welcome Day, it turned out to be OK. Other than that, there was not much to get involved with.