Marketing Higher Apprentice - Customer Literature Review

Marketing Higher Apprentice working on the Customer Literature Team. Every day is different, I have regular BAU items such as annual reviews and budget reconciliation but I also work on different briefs that come in which let you be creative with the new literature or videos. I am responsible for my own suite of literature, covering the Commercial International Sector of the Bank.

I have learnt lots of new skills since joining Lloyds. It hugely boosts your confidence, working on new things each day and talking to different people every week. The main skills I have learnt are stakeholder management, project management, copywriting, presenting, talking in front of large groups of people, general small talk skills and how large organisations work. At the end of my apprenticeship I will receive a Level 4 qualification in Marketing Communications. We get regular opportunities to learn new things, as they have lots of internal and external courses that they encourage you to participate in.

I am really enjoying my time here at Lloyds Banking Group and my team have played a massive part in this. They are extremely supportive and I have got to know some really great people. The work is regularly changing keeping it exciting and creating new skills for me to learn. Throughout my time here I have learnt that LBG is a fantastic place to work, the culture is so positive and it feels like a really happy place to work. It definitely exceeded my expectations.

My team and manager are very good at given appreciation and recognition when deserved. Internal recognition happens very frequently in our department with monthly 'star of the month', high five awards, value in action rewards, team awards etc. One thing I have noticed is that everyone is very thankful when you have done something for them and that makes it such a positive pro-active environment. Colleagues are also invited to events and called out in newsletters if they have worked on large projects in the business. Recently I was invited to meet with one of the members of the board as recognition of a great year a LBG.

I had a week induction/training period to learn about my role, and get to know my team a little better. I was then gradually introduced to the work I would be doing with the support of my manager. You get 1 day a week to study and do your apprenticeship work although it doesn't always work out very well if you have a lot of regular work going on so I try to fit in a little bit of apprenticeship work a few times a week so it doesn't block out 1 whole day. You are treating like an equal member of the team and colleague not just as an apprentice - you get the same opportunities as everyone else.

In my programme we have one main point of contact who is our assessor. He is accessible all week over the phone or via email and is happy to give support/guidance on whatever you need. We have face-to-face meetings every 6 weeks to check our progress and see if we need any help with our work.

I have regular 1-1's with my manager who is super supportive of my work and creates lots of opportunities for me to do things in and outside of my team. The HR team are happy to help with whatever you need and have an online system too which is really useful if you have any questions. They have a mentor pairing scheme in Lloyds that sets you up with different people around the business to speak to and go to for advice. There is lots of different support networks at Lloyds if you need it.

LBG offer a very competitive salary compared to other apprenticeship schemes. It easily covers my travel, daily and social costs. I live at home so my living costs are fairly low although I think my salary would easily cover my living costs if I moved out. They offer an excellent reward package including bonuses based on performance and monetary rewards for good work. You can get discount on their services and accounts, including smaller fees for bank accounts and a better mortgage. Pension package is fantastic.

LBG regularly hold events you can go to - this includes team away days, department away days and company wide events. Each year they have a voluntary initiative called 'Day to make a difference' where you spend the whole day working at a charity with a group of colleagues. They also have a different charity partner every 2 years and hold events all throughout the 2 years to help raise money for this charity. We have a social committee that you can join and set up social events/outings for the department. There is sports/social clubs you can join.

Yes

I truly believe that LBG is a great place to work. I have met some really lovely people and made some great friends during my time here. The salary is competitive and its a real chance to get some meaningful job experience in a large company. I am thoroughly enjoying my time here.

Make sure you do lots of research about Lloyds Banking Group, on their values, strategy, recent results and what their aims and objectives are. Remain true to yourself throughout the process and keep a positive proactive attitude during the interview. Don't be intimidated by other candidates who have more experience than you - I was the least experienced at my assessment day and here I am!