customer service advisor Review

on a day to day basis I answer the phones to customers discussing their bank accounts with Santander. all phone calls are different and vary from a simple enquiry like a balance up to money movements, such as large transactions and bill payments. I help out Santander's customer with any query's about their accounts and try and make sure they get the best possible outcome.

yes, I have definitely developed some new skills since I have started my apprenticeship. for example, I have learnt how to talk too new people as my confidence before my apprenticeship wasn't the best. joining Santander I have gained confidence and learnt how to build rapport with new and existing customers, as well as my friends in work and colleagues.

I do enjoy my programme as its something I have never done before and didn't imagine I would be a customer service advisor. however, I believe that we don't have enough time off the phones to complete our apprenticeship work through the week. also, I think the managers should be giving more help to the apprentices as were all still very new to the working environment.

the programme is organised and well structured however there is a lot of apprenticeship work that needs to be completed with not much time off the phone, this is quite hard and can be stressful at times. also, the fact that we have 1-1s with our managers and apprenticeship managers is very good, this keeps us up to date with what work we have done and what's yet to be completed.

as apprentices we do get support but not from everyone, some managers do give you help if you need it and others don't, this can be quite stressful at times as we are still developing our skills and still in training. I also think that the apprentices should be on the same team as were all in the same boat and most of have the struggle with the same things, this could benefit us s were can learn together.

we do receive support from our training provider but not as much as we should get. we only see her once every six weeks, which is quite a long time to catch up on any work missed or completed. I think we should see our provider a little more maybe once every 2- 4 weeks. this would help out a lot as the apprenticeship can be very stressful at times.

working with our training provider benefits us as apprentices as we can develop our skills in the classroom and deliver them when on the phones talking to customers. it is important we develop our skills as being a customer service advisor so we can give our customers the best possible outcomes on their calls.

at the Santander site in Bootle there is a social club next door called the giro, the giro is very well known and can be very busy after pay day. there is also the Santander football club (giro FC) which is a group of colleagues from the call centre in Bootle.

Yes

I would recommend Santander to a friend or a family member as its a good place to work for the experience and gaining knowledge of how a bank works. however, as we are only young and new to the work place some people think they are a lot better than others, for the simple fact that they are higher up than us and take home more money at the end of the month. not everyone is treated fairly in the workplace.

when applying for Santander I would be sure that you are dedicated in putting in hard work day in day out and can speak to people easily. I would also recommend looking at all the different areas in Santander as their are many other departments other than retail you could apply for.