Business Analyst Review

The role I am currently undertaking involves supporting a product owner. I am given tasks by my project lead and I have to complete them. This involves attending meetings and creating visualisations and preparing and delivering presentations as well as analysing business documents and conducting requirements engineering for the project.

I have managed to become very competent with Jira and with conducting sprint planning. I have also learnt how to write user stories, how to use excel and power point and how to create visualisations. I feel that I should have been given more support in relation to those skills.

I do enjoy the programme because I am learning a lot out it, I feel that I am getting good exposure in different parts of the banking industry. I feel more competent day by day and I think that my apprenticeship will equip me with important skills for the future.

I would say that the programme could have been more organised, but so far I can not say that we had any significant issues with disruptions. I have been given plenty of time to complete my assignments and information on when my modules will take place as well as support.

I have to say that my employer officially supports my learning. However, this really boils down to how proactive an individual project manager is. I felt at times that my learning was pushed aside and the progress of the project was prioritised and I was given tasks that I found very challenging to complete.

QA has been very helpful and Imran Choksi especially who is my skills coach. They have been very helpful in supporting me throughout my learning and they have given me help with my CV and cover letters. I feel that the modules are well designed and that QA has been very supportive.

I feel that what I am learning in the modules which comprise my qualifications are not really helpful to my day to day role. I think that the learning has been compressed too much and not enough emphasis is placed on developing practical skills. Also, I feel that the content sometimes can be too theoretical.

As far as I am concerned there are some sports activities, to which I do not partake because I am not really athletic. I have not been involved to any social activities since I started working, except for the events organised by the Change Hub which I have enjoyed very much.

Yes

I feel that Santander has a good corporate culture. There are many parts of the business which have fully embraced the corporate behaviours.. Even though my friends are active in different fields such as academia, social work and policing, and therefore their career aspirations are different, I would recommend Santander to them.

I would tell them to research the company first, learn more about its history, areas of operations, and corporate culture. I would also advise them to research the different areas within the UK and the World were Santander is active because they can offer very exciting career opportunities to all.