Client Office EMEA FX, Rates and Credit Review

The FRC Client Office is responsible for client management and strategic sales initiatives across the FRC Business. It is a centralized function that allows UBS to focus it's limited resources more effectively on the clients that represent the greatest revenue and economic profit opportunities for the business. On a day-to-day basis, this involves me providing organizational and administrative support to our Client Council that approves/declines onboarding requests, working alongside sales to ensure that the business remains compliant to MiFID II regulations and providing support to the team on client & product segment campaigns that are aligned to FRC business plans.

I have significantly improved my communication skills through the collaborative nature of the role that I am in, gaining more confidence in approaching people in person and acting in the appropriate manner. I am continuously increasing my service delivery skills as I develop the ability to perform tasks to my organization's standards. As my work load begins to increase, I am continuously developing my skills in prioritization, a skill that is essential in the industry that I am in to ensure that I am meeting deadlines to a high standard and prioritizing what needs to be done first. A skill that I have learnt is taking ownership over my areas of responsibility and taking initiative to find ways to progress and approach issues. We had an external course provided to help develop our presentation skills which was extremely useful in helping me build the confidence to give presentations in front of people.

I thoroughly enjoy the programme that I am on. Everyone that I have encountered has been extremely welcoming and employees are always willing to give me the time of day to help educate me on the industry. The opportunities that the role has given me so early into the apprenticeship have been great and my efforts are continuously recognized and appreciated. As someone who joined the financial industry knowing very little, it has been great to have the amount of support that I have had, especially with the education through the CISI examinations, and from my Line Manager and other employees.

The programme I am on is organized and structured very well. We are dedicated 20% of each week to focus on studying for the exams, which is adhered to very well. We have internal and external courses provided to continuously develop and build our skills. I have weekly catch ups with my Line Manager as well as regular catch up with my Skills Coach to evaluate my progress and see how I can continue to develop.

I receive a lot of support from my employer. My Line Manager regularly checks in with me to see how my workload is and if there's anything I need help with. The support for our exams is phenomenal - we are given external and internal courses to assist our learning and we can request more should we need it. My Line Manager is very understanding of my needs as an apprentice and understands the importance of my study. Senior management hosted a breakfast with the apprentices on my floor to see how we felt the apprenticeship was going and to see if there was anything that we were struggling with where they could help.

I have a Skills Coach who I regularly catch up with to update on my progress, where I can raise any issues or request more help should I need it. We are provided with internal and external courses that assist our education, for example we have a 'kick-off' session each time we start a new module as well as a two-day 'crash course' a few weeks before our exam to go through the whole module. There is continuous support from the Junior Talent team to ensure that we aren't struggling. My Line Manager is very understanding of the importance of my study and therefore, every Thursday I take the afternoon to study. Before my first exam, my LM ensured that my work load was lighter so that I could spend more time focusing on passing my exam which I really appreciate, she has also provided me with extra books to look at to help further my understanding.

The qualification that I am taking aligns very well to the role I am in as I see a lot of it around me day-to-day. The first module around Securities and Investments helped develop my product knowledge (which is especially useful for me on a sales/trading floor) and my industry understanding which was a great foundation for me to start on. Once I had this baseline understanding, I was able to go and sit with different desks to build on that knowledge in more granular detail. The regulations module that I am currently sitting speaks on rules that I am exposed to every day and provides clarity on why things are done the way they are and why we have the systems in place that we do. The qualification helps me to perform better in my role because it provides a lot of clarity on what is going on around me and what people are discussing. It allows me to then go and speak to the relevant people to then further that understanding.

We have a Diversity and Inclusion Council which I am part of that works towards enhancing the culture that exists in UBS to continuously make it more inclusive and diversified. There are a series of sub-committees in the D&I council that all focus on different target areas, i.e. for women, for minority groups, recruitment etc. There are a series of sports teams, i.e. a football team, that is open for people to join. We have a series of 'groups' across the bank that people become a part of who then host networking events and talks to raise awareness and provide support for a whole range of people. There are groups that focus on mental health, family support, LBGT support etc. I am also a part of an extra-curricular team that works to provide educational series / content for sales to help them improve their knowledge of parts of the business that may allow them to bring more business to the company. These range from being product specific to talking about the market as a whole.

Yes

UBS is a fantastic place to start your career. It is great at what it does and is full of opportunities that can really allow you to prosper and develop as a person, not just an employee. You are surrounded by people of such high intelligence and everyone is extremely welcoming. The support system is great and it is clear that the business wants you to do well and will do whatever they can to help you achieve that. UBS places a significant amount of importance on the culture of this business and really makes you feel valued as an employee.

For those applying to UBS, I would firstly suggest to be as prepared as you possibly can; research into the role you're applying to so that you can engage in conversations easier and know the right questions to ask. I strongly encourage anyone applying to UBS to ask as many questions as possible. I have been repeatedly told that there is never a 'stupid' question and everyone here is more than willing to go through anything you may have questions on. At first, it may be daunting - especially in a sales and trading role - as you will quickly realize how little you know. Just take your time and be open to learning as much as you can, it all starts to make sense after a few months. I found that reaching out to people in different teams and sitting with them for an hour really helped gradually make things make sense. I also found that, ahead of my interview, I prepared answers to practice questions and used those to help guide my answers in the real thing - it really helps to have an idea of what they're going to ask you and how you would respond.