This month has been a period of fraught nerves, baited breath and waiting on tenterhooks for the 2011 HR Graduate cohort as we submitted our application forms for our business placements. After being inundated with information packs and conference calls preparing us for the application process, attending 1:1s with our Talent Manager to discuss next steps forward, our forms were submitted, and the long wait begun…..

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On Friday 20 April 2012, the HR graduates hosted the Save the Children Charity Ball. The event was a great success and we raised £5315!

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As a graduate, the virtues of effective networking and making the most of every opportunity are constantly being extolled to us. And I would say that whilst I have been on the scheme, I have not only become a firm believer in these virtues, but have also begun living by them, taking up almost every opportunity to network and develop myself that is offered to me.

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This month has been my final opportunity to show my team the value I have added and leave them with a great impression. Particularly enjoyable has been the team meeting (held quarterly) which brings together members of the team from Bristol, Halifax, Edinburgh and London for some face to face time. I took a leading role in establishing the agenda. This involved communicating with the team to find out what they wanted to hear about and what they would find most useful. I took the opportunity to invite guest speakers along and was delighted that the Operational Risk Director was able to give up half and hour to speak with the team and answer any questions they might have. The whole meeting went without a hitch and I have received some great feedback since.

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Last week I went attended a day organised for our group Charity Champions. These individuals work hard above and beyond their day jobs to fundraise for our charity of the year (Save the Children). It was great to meet a selection of such passionate people – what an inspiration!

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Last week was a bad week. Monday began with a trip to A&E after I slipped and hopped my head off the pavement on the way to the train. I was also feeling physically and emotionally drained by a project where it seemed the more I did the more complex and confusing the work got. Suffice to say I was feeling pretty low.



So imagine my surprise when
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It’s 2012 and this year is absolutely flying by with my first placement fast coming to a close. I was recently been told that my next placement is in Group Executive Functions based in London. With my Customer Service role about to come to an end I guess it’s natural to look back reflect over my first six months with LBG.

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Looking out of my office window over the past couple of weeks had been a sight that I am not used to back at home. Snow lining the surrounding hills, its safe to say that the big chill is certainly very well acquainted with Halifax! In the office though, its business as usual with the coffee machine becoming an ever popular feature helping out with those occasional early mornings and late nights!

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It has been a while since I last made a post and this mainly due to the business working life which I currently hold. I am still working within my role in enterprise architecture and design for wholesale finance. Recently I have started numerous new projects looking at commercial aspects of the bank; my work focuses mainly on improving current banking processes through the introduction of new technology. Whilst I am incredibly busy I am still enjoying the placement and I am being supported well by my line manager in terms of personal development.

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I think this time of year must breed ‘the Blues’: the splintering cold winds; the regrets of our Christmas over-indulgence and a scary realisation that we’ve already reached 2012. No one can escape it. But to sit in a melancholic haze, with a hot cocoa, reminiscing over 2011 is no cure – the only medicine is action.

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