Portfolio Support Review

My Job Role is Portfolio Support, however, I tend to do a variety of tasks and activities throughout the week. Presentations (decks as we call them) - I create the decks (front to back) for the different forums/meetings within my team (informative and decision forums). In addition to also leading and driving the meetings. Minutes - capturing important statements, decisions and new actions in addition to updates on current actions, offline action tracking - communicating with all of the leads and action owners (stakeholders). PMO (resource & finances) - frequently updating our status report and finances for each monthly forecast. Maintaining 'the data wall' which I created - it displays our programmes dashboard / successes and improvements. I ensure that all the data is neatly presented in an easy to read format every month. This is so our team can see all of the important information they need to know throughout our programmes journey to completion. Culture & Capability (C&C team) - I am a member of the C&C team within my team, in this team we ensure that we are constantly trying to improve our colleagues well-being and workspace. We also try to organise different events and activities which help us to reflect on our team's success. Also, we help organise fundraising events for different charities, for example, we have just done a cake sale and organised an external visit to Pretty Pool to help them decorate and fund their new outside space for their pupils. Apprenticeship responsibilities - I constantly maintain my apprentice objectives, making sure that I complete them on time in addition to helping out at a variety of events inside of Barclays which helps towards my personal development.

There are a lot of mandatory training and workshops which help towards my personal development on a weekly basis. I have also been able to develop my presentational skills by practicing and doing more. Also, partaken in different events, such as ITGA (IT Girls allowed) which was an event that had a load of different activities to help promote barclays and women working in tech. I've also got involved in a few Robots sessions for primary school children. I have been able to broaden my knowledge on technology whilst being here in addition to my networking skills - I now know who to go to for specific help with work that I'm responsible for. Internal & external training - At Barclays we are able to access an online training site (Plural site) which includes topics such as: project management, stakeholder interactions and many more beneficial topics to help expand my knowledge. Also, on the apprenticeship scheme, we are invited to a few training events, such as, insights training to see what type of learner and person we are. In addition to this, we also get the opportunity to train outside of the workplace at QA. Whilst being in my job role, I have been able to sharpen on my skills. I have sharpened how I present my work which I have been able to improve from the amount of infographics, posters and presentations I have completed. In addition to this, I also know what the best way is to communicate with stakeholders and I am able to manage my time more effectively due to the amount of responsibilities I have.

I would say that I thorough enjoy my programme, it's great to have the ability to work whilst you earn in addition to gaining new skills, meeting new people and broadening your knowledge within a well-established and successful firm. Also, it's great how we are able to go to uni. I would say that I also love my job role and there's always opportunities to develop yourself and your career. Work - I'm always able to expand my knowledge and try out new things. Team - From day one, my team has been very supportive and welcoming throughout - couldn't wish for a better tem. Company culture - There's always a lot of opportunities to take a break, you won't get moaned at for going for a 15 minute walk to distress in addition to being able to wear comfortable (smart casual) attire which many organisations don't let you do. Expectations - I would say that it has exceeding my expectations, I didn't know what to expect so I'm very pleased with how it's going so far.

I would say that it's organised to quite a high level, however, I think that there could be more training opportunities (externally) as the graduates on my team tend to do a lot more towards their personal development. Everyone communicates well with one another internally. Also, there are regular one to one opportunities with your career coach to see how your job role and experience is. Induction - great induction, got to meet everyone that we needed to know. However, I would say it would have been better if we got to properly sit down with last year's apprentices to ease our way into the process. Training - You get offered training within your team if you need it, however, I would say that my experience was very calm and relaxed as the tasks I was given I felt very comfortable with. Support - Constant support from my team members, line manager, career coach and ELT from MMU. We are also told that we can have a mentor to help us with our personal development. Team Hierarchy - even though there is a hierarchy established, I would say that near enough everyone (especially in my team) acts like they are on the same level - no one is overpowering or acts as if they they're better than anyone.

There is quite a lot of support - especially by your team, line manager and career coach. However, I don't think that there is a lot of available / frequent opportunities for personal development in regards to training. However, if there are any concerns I always know that there's someone I can go to.

I would say that we receive some support from our training provider, as we learn a variety of different things that we never would have gone near before joining the programme. In addition to this, there are study days / lecturer free days which allows us to develop our skills, for example, we have done presentation practices, dragon den activities and also other workshops which have proven to be beneficial. However, sometimes I feel that there could be more things to help us develop in regards to our career choices and also I think that the structure and support to certain modules isn't to a brilliant standard (it could be improved).

I would say that it does relatively help me perform better in my job role, for example, I use a lot of Microsoft software's in work as well as at university so I feel a lot more comfortable than I did before. However, within the first year of university, a lot of the things we were being taught didn't have any similarity to my job role, for example, coding has nothing to do with what I am currently doing in work and I doubt that I would choose to do it (if I had the choice) as it's not something which relates to the career path / future job role I have my eyes on but completely agree with the fact that they have provided us with the new knowledge (ability to code) as it's something new.

Since joining the apprenticeship, I would say that there are more than enough extra-curricular activities to get involved in. Some are arranged through the apprenticeship programme, for instance, Robot sessions, presentations at your previous school and ITGA (which is an event for primary/high school girls to help them get a better understanding of girls in tech). Also, due to me being a member of the culture & capability team, I am able to get involved in lots of different team events, example, cake sales, team bbq's and sport days. There are even opportunities for you to partake in events outside of your team such as the Radbroke 100 events every year, firework events and networking events depending on your job role.

Yes

There are many reasons as to why I would refer Barclays to a friend. Firstly, it would be good to note that my friend referred me to apply to Barclays - after hearing how great her journey was so far with this fantastic employer, I jumped to the opportunities. The whole process, from applying, going through the assessment day and actually joining and starting work full-time has been to a brilliant standard. There are constant opportunities for personal growth, for example, communicating and knowledge sharing with those around you, building your work-experience by helping out at different types of events, gaining core-business skills, improving communication skills with stakeholders and many more amazing things. I would definitely apply for Barclays again and I would encourage others to do so as it's an amazing opportunity for everyone - having the ability to work in such a well-established organisation that provides you with the knowledge, skills and ability to learn as you earn.

If I were to give anyone advise, I would say to be yourself, definitely don't hide anything and don't lie during the application process - it's best to always stay truthful as Barclays will see you for you and that's all you could ever want (an organisation to choose you for you and to appreciate you as a person). I would say that you should prep for your interview if you get to the assessment day at the assessment centre - it's always best to plan a head so that you aren't taken back by anything asked. Also, best advise to give would be to dress smart, be polite and don't try to overpower - it's all about first impressions and you want to make it count! Finally, don't be put off when you have to do a lot of tests or activities - it seems quite daunting but it's definitely work the time and effort at the end of the day! Most importantly, enjoy yourself and always stay positive.