Graduate Management Trainee Review

I am a graduate management trainee and complete several rotations in different areas of the bank to gain experience. One of these was as a manager of a frontline team, which was most relevant to my Level 3 apprenticeship. The role includes a wide variety of projects and initiatives to both lead and support on.

I have learnt a variety of new leadership and supervisory skills which will be useful in future roles. I have also developed existing skills such as teamwork, communication, presentation, time management and stakeholder management. I have had lots of development opportunities in order to learn about and take stock of my own personal development.

The programme is very enjoyable and has afforded me a wide range of opportunities. There are many aspects to the programme which make it very varied and interesting. It is enjoyable to be within a graduate cohort which means there is a variety of extra curricular activities to get involved with.

The programme itself is very well structured and clearly managed. The apprenticeship element with Kaplan is less well structured and at times can be confusing and difficult to navigate. There is not always a clear line of sight at Kaplan and it becomes confusing as to who is responsible for what.

I receive a lot of support and extra guidance from my employer with regards to completing and learning from my apprenticeship. They are always willing to provide help, guidance and time to ensure that I can complete the apprenticeship to the best of my ability and on time as well.

I have found Kaplan to be sometimes a bit distant and difficult to communicate with. I have been through a change in Talent Coach and the communication around this was quite poor. Kaplan are not always very good at providing constructive feedback and there is not always a clear line of responsibility when it comes to escalating issues.

The qualification helps me understand the role and remit of a manager / supervisor and what can be done differently to help and support a team. Since there is a mixture of formal and on the job learning, I have been able to apply the learning to my day job continually.

There are a whole host of events and extra curricular activities to get involved in at HSBC and colleagues are actively encouraged to get involved as much as possible. I am always impressed at the amount and variety that HSBC offers and colleagues also go out of their way to provide exciting and interesting opportunities for other colleagues too.

Yes

There are a whole host of opportunities within the HSBC Group across multiple different geographies. HSBC is a very people-centred organisation that really promotes a healthy culture and work life balance. Employees are empowered to make decisions and speak up, which helps us deliver better service to our customers and the regions we serve.

Learn about the culture and how you would fit in here. Think about the HSBC core values which are really important to all of us and should form a part of all of our daily working lives. Understand HSBC's role in a wider economical context which will help to clarify some of the opportunities and challenges which lie ahead.