I hope you’ve all been getting your applications in quickly because the deadline is fast approaching (31 January)  and the assessment centres have already begun. 

I heard a rumour that the first assessment centre got underway the other day, so I popped up to the 11th floor to have a look and see how people were getting on. 

This was a good opportunity for me to answer questions that (if you’re thinking of applying) your competition or potential future colleagues had.

Most of the questions that were thrown at me were easy to deal with. But there was one that I struggled to answer, which was what I like least about my job. 

Faced with the risk of coming across as a corporate junky and saying that there’s nothing that I dislike about working at Lloyd’s, I racked my brain for anything I could say.

Nothing sprang to mind so I dived out of that group’s conversation by making a sweeping move across the room to acquire a chipolata!

The problem is that currently there is not much for me to dislike about my job.  I’m still in the honeymoon period having joined Lloyd’s just over three months ago and having landed in a role that I really enjoy. 

One of the things that you’ll have noticed if you have perused the graduate recruitment website is that there’s a considerable selection of areas to join. 

There are jobs to fit all tastes and interests, so once you’ve got your foot through the door you’ll be able to pick a role that you will be happy in. 

Moreover, there’s a fantastic structure in place which ensures that if you do have a problem or things aren’t working out for you, help will be at hand.

Victoria Payne, our HR manager, acts as our graduate programme fairy godmother, essentially overseeing our careers.  She organises all our training, makes sure everything is in order and always fixes any problems we might have. 

We all have mentors who are usually senior managers in the corporation to whom we can turn for any advice we may need with our work or our career progression. 

Lastly we were all given buddies with whom we have informal relationships, and to whom we can turn when we have silly questions we are embarrassed to ask. 

This, of course, is in addition to the fantastic support which you will have once you join your specific area in the Corporation. 

So considering how well looked after I am in my International Regulatory Affairs team, and that I gain great satisfaction out of my work, it’s not surprising that there is not much to dislike about my job. 

Now, when it comes to getting to Lloyd’s every day, well that is a different story, because if you want to work in the City it’s very likely that you are going to have to deal with this at least twice a day: