Finance Analyst Review

I work in a team called 'External Regulatory Reporting'. My role within the team is to help produce the external reports that go to the Bank of England for our business area every quarter. On a day to day basis I sometimes help internal reporting with adjusting the system and their month end tasks. When it comes to January, April, July & October my day to day tasks involve refreshing reports, updating commentary and investigating larger movers for different areas of the group.

Whilst on my apprenticeship I feel I have gained a variety of skills. Firstly, of course I had confidence to even get the job in the first place but I feel my confidence has grown tremendously from doing exams and realising I am smart. My confidence has also grown from doing presentations in schools about the apprenticeships Lloyds offer. Furthermore, my excel skills have improved vastly. When I began the apprenticeship I knew nothing about formula's or keyboard shortcuts and now I couldn't live without them!

Personally, I think that because I am such an organised person I have loved the programme. I have found it challenging in ways with exams but I've always managed to get my head down and pass them. The diploma units weren't so bad and I have managed them really well I feel. I also enjoyed rotating teams as part of my programme. I got to experience what it was like in different teams of my department which are completely different. It's made me more confident, I've got to know more people & at the same time just had fun.

I feel really valued at Lloyds. I feel if I suggest something to my manager or senior manager they will take this on board and see what can be done with it and get back to me in a reasonable time. I also feel like that I am not treated any less just because I am an apprentice - we all get treated the same here at Lloyds. I feel I am also able to speak up to any manager if I need to get something off my chest or if I feel something isn't right.

When I first began my apprenticeship I thought it was very well organised and structured with my training provider. My assessor at the time was [This section of the comment has been removed by a member of the RateMyApprenticeship Team because it did not meet our site terms and conditions] and she spoke to me every month and gave me diploma work to work on every month. I found [This section of the comment has been removed by a member of the RateMyApprenticeship Team because it did not meet our site terms and conditions] very well organised with our diploma units and exam. [This section of the comment has been removed by a member of the RateMyApprenticeship Team because it did not meet our site terms and conditions] left Kaplan in December 2017 and since then it hasn't been as well organised but I am aware that my new assessor is still trying to get up to speed with things.

Again, similar to question 5 - I received a lot of support from [This section of the comment has been removed by a member of the RateMyApprenticeship Team because it did not meet our site terms and conditions] my training assessor at Kaplan. She was lovely and always on hand. She would always reply super. I also feel that the people that come in for our revision days before our exams are also super helpful. However, since [This section of the comment has been removed by a member of the RateMyApprenticeship Team because it did not meet our site terms and conditions] has left the support from Kaplan has gone a bit downhill and I feel like I wait weeks for a response from anyway - hopefully it will be sorted soon.

I received an excessive amount of support from my employer. My line manager has weekly 121's and monthly 121's with me. I feel I can speak to my line manager and senior manager about any problems I am facing with the apprenticeship. I feel comfortable enough to ask my managers for any support with exams and diploma work and I know that they will help me as much as possible.

My salary and benefits is great as part of the apprenticeship. We get salary and benefits just as any other colleague within the group would. As long as I perform well in my apprenticeship studies and at work then I will get an annual bonus and increase in my annual income (subject to performance rating).

I'm not entirely sure what it is meant by this question however if it means social wise then absolutely! We have a social and charity committee in our area which you can get involved in (I am part of the charity committee). The social committee come up with events to socialise with each other outside of work. Some examples are Pub crawl, Christmas party, summer BBQ etc. All the events are great fun and a good opportunity to get to know people outside of work.

Yes

I would recommend LBG to a friend as I feel really passionate at how well they treat their staff. I find it a really good place to work and feel really proud to say I work for the company. There are so many different things you can get involved in within Lloyds and SO many different kinds of jobs in different divisions so gives you a big variety to pick from.

My tips and advice would be always do your research on LBG before you apply or get an interview. You need to make sure you know the core values and beliefs that Lloyds want in their colleagues as this is what the hiring managers will look for from you. I would also say just be yourself but make sure you are happy and friendly and really are interested in working for the company.