Post Trade Services and Busness Engagement Analyst Review

My current role is Post Trade Services and Business Engagement Analyst. In this role I collate data from Settlements Risk events, where money has gone out of the bank due to a fault within Barclays. I analyse this information to look for trends in the route causes, and present it to the business so that they can improve their systems and processes to prevent it from occurring again. I have constant interactions with the people who caused the faults, and the business managers themselves, as well as Operational Risk and Control, Trade Capture Optimisation etc.

I have learnt loads of new skills such as presentation skills when presenting the data, analytic skills to sort the data and also new programmes and software that I have had to become more familiar with in order to record these events. Alongside this I am also studying for Chartered Banker exams, and CISI Capital Markets exams.

I really enjoy my programme. The work is interesting, tough but not too tough, which allows me to push myself. The people in my team are really nice and supportive, guiding me through the processes and understanding if I don't know how to do things straight away. The culture of the company is also very positive - constantly working together to create a better environment - everyone always seems very friendly and helpful.

I feel very valued from Barclays. I get lots of praise for the work I do and people explain to me how the work I do benefits the overall bank. I have also received internal recognition awards for good work which I am very pleased about. I have always been involved in tasks and people have always taken the time to go through things with me, which is really important in making me feel valued.

The programme is very well organized and structured. Right from the initial induction which was a structured 2 day induction course, through to the training where we have 6 monthly workshops and for each of the CISI exams we have 2 day classroom training. We also have a dedicated talent coach from an external company whose job it is to ensure we are passing the criteria for the apprenticeship and passing our exams. The team that I work in is also well organized and structured too, which is representative of Barclays as a whole.

As mentioned, we have a dedicated talent coach who is always very responsive and helpful. We have monthly 1:1s with her, as well as physical meet ups every 6 months. She replies to emails the same day and is constantly encouraging and helping us. She has a very proactive approach and I feel like I can always go to her with problems or for advice.

My manager is constantly supporting me, and has been great. Support from a mentor or buddy is a bit more limited, as we haven't been allocated mentors per se from the scheme, however as I have been in the bank for a year and a half now, I feel like I have quite a lot of connections that I could turn to if I needed support.

My salary and package is very good in comparison to other apprenticeships. However living in London is very expensive and I find that 60% of my salary is spent on rent. This occasionally leaves me fairly tight at the end of the month but I am usually okay. However we have a well structured pay package, and I do try and save some money as well.

Company organized events are fairly limited in my experience. We occasionally go out for drinks with other team members, but this is fairly limited to once every few months, or when someone leaves. It would be nice to see more social organized activities. However, in the summer I am an active member of the Barclays tennis club which is funded, so every Wednesday after work I play tennis with colleagues for a couple of hours.

Yes

Barclays is a great company to work for. Not only is the pay competitive and the other benefits really good, there is a realty good work ethic and culture, where everyone works hard but everyone still gives up time to assist you even if they are really busy. I always find that I can ask any question and people would be happy to sit down and explain things to me without a problem.

I would advise them that they should ask lots of questions, as when I first joined I knew very little of banking and asking questions really helped me. I would also advise them to reach out and connect to as many people as possible and get exposure to as many different parts of the bank as possible. As you are on an apprenticeship, you have a golden ticket to discuss career opportunities with people, move around the bank and see different areas, and be thirsty for knowledge. People will be more than happy to assist.