Credit Officer Review

I work as a Credit Officer for the Intermediary mortgage channel. My day-to-day role involves making informed judgemental lending decisions on mortgage applications, assessing affordability and policy criteria. This is a customer facing role with regular contact over the phone with mortgage brokers. I have also taken on a role as Fraud SME dealing with complex referrals.

I have learnt how best to track my development and how 'in work' training can be of benefit to my role. The CertRBCB qualification opened me up to the wider world of financial services and enabled me go gain a new perspective on my current role. The development that the apprenticeship has afforded me has been invaluable.

I enjoyed the interaction with my Learning Coach Gill and found the one to one support she provided invaluable. I have really enjoyed the apprenticeship programme and would not hesitate to recommend it to others looking to drive their own development. I fee that the programme should be offered to a wider audience to allow them to reap the same benefits I have had.

The regular meetings with [This section of the comment has been removed by a member of the RateMyApprenticeship Team because it did not meet our site terms and conditions], the talent coach, were extremely well structured and she showed a real desire for me to learn and improve. This was in stark contrast to the 'Tesselo' system used to track progress which was beset with a number of issues and was changed on multiple occasions to make it more relevant to the apprenticeship.

HSBC have been extremely supportive of my apprenticeship allowing me the time and resources I needed to progress effectively. Time was also given for study for the CertRBCB qualification as well time off to take the assessment. Specific time was not allotted for 'apprenticeship work', but it was made clear that 'on the job learning' was being encouraged and could be tracked accordingly.

I enjoyed the interaction and one-on-one support from my Learning Coach [This section of the comment has been removed by a member of the RateMyApprenticeship Team because it did not meet our site terms and conditions] and found the support she provided invaluable. Her experience as well as broad knowledge of the banking industry as a whole prepared me excellently for my exam. The quiz questions and mock papers she prepared were extremely useful.

The apprenticeship and CertRBCB qualification have opened me up to the entire customer journey - not just the specific aspect of it that I deal with in my everyday role. The analytical thinking and broad variety of training techniques used by my Learning Coach have enabled me to apply my knowledge to my role - improving my customer service skills and preparing me for promotion.

HSBC has a wide range of activities for colleagues to take part in that directly benefit the community. Volunteer days with organisations like Greno Woods and Bluebell Wood as well as fundraising for McMillan Cancer Research and other charities enable us to give back to the community. Other than a Christmas event, work-organised networking events seem to have dwindled rather recently.

Yes

HSBC has given me a clear career path with defined goals. HSBC seems to care about the wellbeing of its staff and this is reflected in the good level of remuneration received. I became a father last week and my manager could not have been more accommodating to my needs with regards to time off and adjustments to working hours.

Be yourself. Think about the bigger picture and how your actions affect others. Always look to do the right thing, even if it isn't the easiest thing to do. Make sure that the customer is at the forefront of your mind and if you get an interview, make sure you have lots of specific examples of times that you have gone above and beyond to deliver results - whether it be to a customer or to colleagues.