Relationship team officer Review

My role is to support Relationship Managers look after their portfolios. These are full of commercial business's that have turnover of 2M to 50M. It is a very varied role that is always challenging and keeps you busy.

I have built a lot of customer service skills, I would say that I built up a very basic set of skills from working in retail. But working in retail has taught me a lot more and developed my skills. I have also built up knowledge about credit and the financial industry

I really enjoy my program. It was intimidating for me at first as you are thrown in to the deep end, and I am a quiet person. But in the four months I have been in the role I have built up my confidence massively and have learnt to say yet to all experiences and enjoy all the parts of my programme.

I fell really valued by RBS, they management have invested so much time in to us. We have has talks by higher management. I feel like I am given a lot of responsibility and my work is valued by my team.

There is a lot of apprentice days and a very structured introduction to the bank. The actual role can be not as structured, you are thrown in to the deep in and expected to pick things up as you go. The whole office is really helpful and willing to teach you constantly.

The support from the training provider is patchy, The month phone reviews are okay but there is big gaps in communication during the course. At the beginning of the course BPP seemed unwilling to answer any queries. The Webinars are good if that is your learning style. I think if you are going to be doing this course you should expect complete the exam with little help.

I receive a lot of work from my employer, I am given my allotted hours a week to study out of the office which has made a massive difference with my revision. Within the job role I am given loads of support, I feel like I can go to my team with any questions and they will help me with the development in my role.

The salary package meets my costs well, you get your salary and 25% on top of that available in a range of benefits. It is the best wage for an apprenticeship that I have seen, I know that it varies depending where you are based. The apprentice oyster card helps with travel costs, and the Nus card gets you discount in different stores and restaurants

There are lots of opportunities outside of work, so far I have: Joined the Sports & Networking council, Joined the netball team, organized a new business event and have spoken at a college about apprenticeships. This is all within the last few months but there are always new ones coming up.

Yes

I think its been a very supportive apprenticeship, with loads of opportunity's. I have really enjoyed it and think it is great for someone who wants to make the most of it and really embrace the chance they have been given.

Be prepared for the application process to take a while, from start to finish it took about four months for me, sometimes there is long periods of time that you do not hear back from them.