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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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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January is a time that tends to be associated with negative connotations: post-Christmas debt, un-kept resolutions and January Blues. Luckily for the HR Graduates however, we were able to come back to work after the Christmas break with a much more positive focus. This month saw the official launch of our fund-raising events for the Challenge to raise £36, 000 for our Charity of The Year, Save the Children. [More]

The theme of this week’s blog is gratitude. This isn’t just because Thanksgiving has led me to think about everything I am grateful for, but also because I recently spent a day volunteering at a school for underprivileged children as part of my ‘Day To Make A Difference.’ One of the benefits of working for Lloyds Banking Group is that all colleagues are given the opportunity to spend one day a year volunteering in local projects. [More]

Almost two months into my placement now, ‘up-skilling’ is most certainly the theme of this blog. Reading back on my last blog post, if you had told me then that I would be experiencing such a high level of activity, stimulation and, at times, plate-spinning, I would not have believed that I would have coped so well with so many conflicting deadlines and pressures. However, I can gladly report back that not only have I lived to tell the tale, but am also looking forward to the new challenges (there are never problems at Lloyds Banking Group always ‘challenges’) that lay on the horizon. [More]

Into week three of my HR graduate placement, I am really beginning to reap the benefits of the scheme. As the only graduate on a team of three, I am getting involved in high-level projects, which will be having significant impact. [More]

Having spent an adolescence envying the role of fictitious television columnist Carrie Bradshaw and having written a regular column for my University newspaper, I leapt at the chance to write a blog of the first twelve months of my graduate career. The reason being, that when I was applying for graduate schemes, I was fortunate enough to be guided by the help and advice of older cousins and friends, who had been down a similar path in previous years. I also felt extremely lucky when, after much dedication and hard-work, I succeeded in securing a position on the H.R graduate scheme at Lloyds Banking Group.

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