Barclays LifeSkills Placement Review

Shadowing employees on the open counter at the branch I was located at, as well as observing private consultations/appointments where possible and appropriate. This involved learning how to process cheques and other simple customer-facing tasks and eventually performing these with supervision. It also involved assisting with some non-customer-facing roles such as emptying ATMs and preparing currency exchanges.

I learnt a lot about the day to day runnings of a bank and the systems they use. It enhanced my customer service skills as the majority of the time was spent helping on the counter and dealing with customer requests. It also helped me learn to deal with difficult customers as it is such a personal and important role, people can be particularly frustrated if anything goes wrong or can get very impatient. As a business student I was hoping to learn more about that side of the business and the customers so was a little disappointed that I didn't develop many/any skills related to this.

The programme showed me the reality of what it is like to work in a bank and it wasn't for me. If I'm being honest, I did not enjoy the placement, but the staff there were very welcoming and friendly and I do feel like I learnt from it. I wouldn't have known how much I would dislike the role if it weren't for the placement and it is better to learn through this than to find out later when commited to a job.

I did not feel particularly valued but my role wasn't for very long. The staff were all very friendly and helped me learn some basic tasks but didn't show much support in helping me develop any long-term skills. They clearly have people on work experience there quite often so do not invest too much time or effort into you, which resulted in me feeling a bit redundant and a bit of a burden.

There was no real structure to the programme which was a bit demotivating. It was mainly left to the staff to decide who I'd be shadowing or what role I'd be doing, with no real aims. Some days I was sent home early simply because there was nothing for me to do. I feel like I could have got more from the programme had my time there been planned. The manager who I think was technically in charge of me was rarely there and that meant that my progress wasn't really monitored or encouraged.

The staff at the branch I was at were very friendly and helpful. They were supportive in showing me how to complete tasks and in letting me do them myself when I was able. However, this was mainly on quite basic tasks and there wasn't much support for improving any long-term or transferable skills. The manager who I believe was meant to oversee my training was rarely there and only had a couple of short, quite superficial conversations with me, that didn't feel very meaningful or supportive and I would have appreciated more opportunities to go feedback.

If there was any kind of structure or plan to the role, I did not see it, nor did they ask for feedback on my experience. This makes it feel as though they are not very supportive as an employer. The employees that were helping me were not given much, if any, guidance as to what I should be doing, which also felt unfair on them, who did their best to support me.

This was an unpaid placement. Due to my age and the role, I believe this was fair as it was mainly me gaining experience and work skills.They did their best to ensure I was placed at the closest branch, meaning I had very minimal expenses , and did not make any unnecessary stipulations on uniform etc that would have increased my costs.

As this was a short placement and due to my age, there were no opportunities outside of work.

Yes

It was very easy to gain a placement and I did learn some useful skills. Unfortunately the role didn't suit me but the staff were very friendly and welcoming and the reputable name also made it worthwhile. If you think you would enjoy working in a customer-facing role at a bank, or working at Barclays in future, I think it would be very useful.

If you able to, discuss your progress with the manager or whoever is overseeing your role. If you do not feel as though you are progressing or learnings the skills you wanted to, make sure you bring it up and make suggestions to those you are shadowing. They seem to offer placements quite frequently so if they don't currently have one near you, keep checking the website and definitely apply through LifeSkills as it is very straightforward.