Finance Analsy Review

Finance Analyst. Daily tasks include: data enrichment, data analysis, reconciliations, monthly reporting, answering queries, organizing meetings, excel work. I normally know what I am going to be doing every day and I occasionally receive ad hoc tasks too out of my usual work load.

I have been gaining an accountancy qualification alongside working. The primary skills I have picked up are: Excel skills, presentation skills, organizational skills, learning to take responsibility of my own time. I have learnt how to take a piece of work and make it my own by improving it.

The work opportunities I get are really good and I really enjoy the work culture, because you are free to manage your own time and everybody here is relaxed, friendly and willing to help. However there is a lot of tension between studying and working because our teams do not like us taking a lot of time off to study and sometimes do not support us in this. The scheme does little to help us and I think they rather that we place more emphasis on work than on studying which is hard, because if you fail an exam you may get fired. I enjoy the job itself but I do not enjoy being on the apprenticeship at all because the bit that makes it an apprenticeship is the studying and we get little or no support for it so I may as well just work full time. I would only recommend this apprenticeship because the work is enjoyable.

I don't feel overly valued by Barclays because they choose not to support us with our study leave. My team would rather I work than study so I feel like they do not appreciate the fact that I am an Apprentice. if I was a full time permanent member then I would be valued a lot more.

Our programme is not very well organized. They have left us to book our study leave and college dates which is fine, but then when you try and book the dates that you want they often turn around and say no. They also have stretched our study out to cover four years when the AAT only needs 2/3 years. Again, this is because they would rather us be working. it is constantly unclear about what will happen to us after the scheme and so many people have left.

Our training provider is actually pretty good and I feel there is definitely enough support from them.

My employer provides me a lot of support with my work but none for my studying. My team are quite often reluctant to grant me study leave and annual leave. We have no contact with HR. The general attitude my employer has towards us apprentices is that we are too eager to finish our studies. I have never encountered a firm before that discouraged educational success, but Barclays is one of them.

It meets the costs well but there are no pay rises in four years which is very unrealistic, considering inflation and the fact that we will be qualified accountants by the end of year 3.

There are lots of volunteering opportunities which we are supported to do and there tends to be a couple of company events every now and then but this depends on which team you are working in.

No

Barclays as an employer of a permanent worker is excellent but as an apprentice it is poor.

I would advise to go in knowing as much as you can about what your job role is going and make sure that it is the right path for you.