Apprentice Relationship Manager Review

My role is to assist my manager in providing loans for Housing Associations and support these businesses with all of their banking needs. Day to day my role is very different, I help by reading over and sometimes writing credit papers, I complete business plan analysis on our client's business plans and I keep our records up to date with all the deals going on in the Scotland Housing Finance Sector. This work goes alongside me studying for my chartered banker certificate as part of my apprenticeship.

Absolutely, I have developed a lot of new skills that I didn't know I had. These past few months have shown me how organised I can be when I put my mind to it. It has shown me that when there is a deadline or something at risk that I can work efficiently and timely with others to ensure that tasks are completed. I have also gained confidence in using different applications, such as excel.

I very much enjoy the social aspect of my programme. I feel that if I were in this process alone without the support of my peers then I could have potentially struggled. RBS have been outstanding in organizing events for their apprentices and ensuring that they keep in contact with us as often as they can. By them doing this I have a great, varied support network with my peers who are working toward the same goal.

I feel my programme is well structured considering the current events of Covid-19. Both RBS and BPP have made every effort to stay in contact with us in these trying times to support in any way they can. There was a recent pause on the Apprenticeship which I found helpful as it allowed me to focus on the day to day job and provide a great service t our customers without having the added pressure of deadlines etc.

Just before Covid-19 lock down was put in motion I was asked to change team from REF to Housing Finance. Having this move amidst the pandemic was something I panicked about as I felt I wasn't going to be able to learn with working from home and worried about the support I would have or if I would have any. My new manager put me at such ease and we worked together to set up a learning plan which would benefit both of us. I feel the support from my employer during this time has been outstanding and I couldn't have asked for a more supporting manager.

I have not long come off a call with my assessor from BPP. Due to there being a pause in the apprenticeship we have had to re-schedule my due dates for certain learning modules. During this call Emma was very supportive and reminded me that there is no pressure, that she is here for support and that if I had any worries or concerns that I should reach out to her. I feel there is a good relationship and understanding between the training provider and my employer as they set expectations at the beginning and have stuck by those since.

I feel that the qualification will help me greatly in my role, it's all very well knowing what you have to do for the customer but the process of why we have to do it and what happens behind the scenes is just important. An example of this is us having to keep a track of what documentation our customer gives us for the regulator, to collect this and have no understanding means you could do your job to an average level but to know why is a greater benefit as you can understand and have a larger base knowledge. this way you're more likely to notice if things are missing or incorrect.

Within my team there are a lot of social, networking events that our managers and heads of department strongly encourage that we participate in. Through RBS I am linked in with my apprenticeship peers so we regularly organize meets with that group. There are also a lot of volunteering opportunities within RBS which are very important to get involved in. With my work it is more likely that I would be involved with the professional network events.

Yes

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