PMO Analyst Review

PMO Analyst - I'm currently working as a PMO analyst and day-to-day I carry out a number of jobs.I currently deal with all Joiners, Movers, Leavers activity for my team as well as maintaining the teams structure chart. I also pull together reports for my team and provide assistance with risks and issues within projects when required. Lastly throughout a normal working day I will take actions and minutes for some of the meetings held by members of my team.

Yes - I have learnt a lot about Project Governance and how to deal with risks and issues. I have also learnt how to pull together packs and reports for meetings as well as taking down the actions and minutes for these meetings. On top of learning new skills I have also enhanced some of my current skills which include excel, outlook, powerpoint and visio.

So far I have enjoyed my programme however at points it could be more challenging as some of the tasks I face can be administration based as oppose to more technical based. When applying for the RBS technology apprenticeship I anticipated being placed in a more technical role and I hope to begin work within a more technical capacity in the near future.

Overall within RBS I feel valued. Recently I was called out during a Programme call for my hard work on finishing runner up within an RBS Challenge task. Being called out gave me some self pride and assurance that my hard work was being valued. When asking for feedback at the tail end of last I received plenty of positive comments which was reassuring as it meant I knew I that my hard work was being noticed.

The overall structure of the programme is good and most areas are well organised. The induction into RBS was great and gave a good opportunity to meet other apprentices and you always receive plenty of support - if you ask for it. RBS always allow plenty of time for study as well. However I've found from speaking to a few other apprentices that many of us are unsure of what happens when we finish our apprenticeship in terms of what role we will have or be offered.(although we have been assured that there is a role for us)One issue I have faced is that I've been told from my training provider that my role is not technical enough to complete my second year but assured from RBS that this is ok - Which leaves me slightly concerned.

I usually meet with my rep once every 3 months which is good but not great. During the meeting we will go over any work I've completed and I'm ready to hand in and he will provide feedback on it before it is formally submitted online. This meeting also offers a good opportunity to speak about any issues I may have. I have had a slight issues with being able to sort out what I'll be doing during my second year but hopefully this is resolved.

My manager is always supporting and allows me to take on extra training when available or attend offsite activities such as attending school visits to help promote RBS. However I think to progress my development at a quicker rate I could do with some time set aside for daily or bi-daily training.

RBS offer a fantastic salary for an apprenticeship and this meets my needs. The opportunity to select your benefits from RBSelect is also very useful and helpful. RBS also allow working from home which helps a great deal as I have a long and expensive commute to and from work.

RBS offer plenty opportunities to get involved outside of work. They offer apprentices the chance to go to school visits, go on nights out, attend extra training courses and also provide an out of office challenge to come up with and idea to utilise digital transformation to simplify the bank and reduce costs. They also offer hackathons which appear to be very popular within the bank.

Yes

RBS offer a good wage package for an apprenticeship and also offer the opportunity to get on the job experience whilst gaining qualifications. Because RBS take on so many apprentices it means that there are plenty of people in the same position as yourself which can make you feel at ease and more comfortable when starting and throughout.

When applying for RBS they will ask if you have any preference to where you'd like to work, when they ask this ensure that you have researched the different job roles within the bank and ask for a role that would be suited to you - I never done this which was a mistake I made as I said I'd be happy being in any position which has led to me being in a more administration like role instead of the technical route I hoped for.