Relationship Team Officer Review

My role is a Relationship Team Officer. This is a role whereby I complete the tasks of an Assistant Relationship Manager, providing support to a Relationship Manager in the Agricultural Sector of NatWest Commercial Banking. My role involves being a point of contact for customers in the portfolio both on email, over the phone and face to face to help resolve any queries they have. My duties include creating a contact strategy to make sure we keep an active relationship with all cusotmers, submitting appropriate forms relating to customer instructions, complaints handling,initiating interactions with solicitors and accountants, meeting preparation, annual review preparation and much more. Whilst on my apprenticeship I have also been involved in a few projects for the North Commercial Agriculture Team such as getting prospects on CRM, setting up shared relationship plans and creating an agriculture pitchbook. I thoroughly enjoy my role and especially like taking ownership of the various projects.

Since starting my apprenticeship I have learnt so many new skills. Before this I had very little knowledge of Banking, however I believe that now I am knowledgable in my sector and have proven this by passing the Professional Banker Certificate. I have also completed an advanced level apprenticeship in Providing Financial Services. I have been on various training courses as part of my apprenticeship including interview skills & techniques and specific courses relating to the Agriculture sector.

I really enjoy my programme and the support from RBS has been brilliant. The only areas that I would comment on that haven't been the best have been the issues experienced with the learning provider BPP, where I have had 3 different assessors and the processes of marking etc have not always been very consistent.

I feel extremely valued by RBS. This has been down to the fact that not only have RBS spent a lot of time and resources in helping me to develop my skills and become competent at my role but have also been extremely supportive in ensuring that I further my career.

My programme has been well structured on the RBS side of things, with a clear plan laid out at the beginning that detailed the different tasks I should be completing and skills I should be learning at different stages of the apprenticeship. This was followed by well structure training sessions over audio and I have regular catch ups with my manager to monitor progress. Again, with the learning provider BPP, the beginning of my programme was well structured in regards to the webinars for exam training, however the back end of the year in terms of task books and assessor reviews haven't been quite as well organised and there were a lot of last minute changes.

The support I receive from my training provider has varied massively throughout the programme. I find that the technical queries team that I can contact by email have been very supportive and always resolve my queries very quickly. Howver, during the programme I have had 3 different assessors which has meant that the support has been quite inconsistent. For example, one of my assessors I felt did not give me the support I needed, whereas another has been brilliant.

I receive lots of support from my employer. This has been evident in the fact that there have been various different events and training sessions set up to help with certain aspects of the role/ systems in response to mine and other apprentices feedback on how we are getting on. I can always speak to my colleagues, manager or director who will help me out on things I am struggling with and give me advice. I have never felt as though I have lacked support from my employer at all.

My salary package is brilliant, especially compared to many other apprenticeship salaries. I spend quite a lot on travel costs to and from work, but my salary comfortably covers that as well as any other social and living costs I have.

I have been lucky to be a part of many different things outside of work. Since working for RBS I have taken part in various networking events, charity fundraising (some of which I have organised myself) and social events with my colleagues.

Yes

I would recommend RBS to a friend due to the fact that I have had the opportunity to learn so many new skills and knowledge in such a short space of time. The support apprentices receive is fantastic and you can really feel that RBS are investing in you as an employee for the long term and are really focused on your career progression. I think this is important as it may not be the case for a lot of apprenticeships.

If I were to give advice to others applying to RBS, I would say that personality is key. You don't need to know very much about banking or the industry, you just need to be a great person who enjoys getting on with others and helping customers. Therefore, in an interview situation, being yourself and highlighting the different ways that you are customer focused and think of others before yourself is really important. The interview process is actually quite enjoyable and the onboarding process is really slick and well managed.