Corporate Banker Review

My day-to-day role ranges from dealing with enquiries from large corporate customers through a mailbox system, or meeting with clients to speak around products and services they may be interested in learning more about or using. I also assist the account managers and sales team within my team in other tasks around their clients too.

In my new role, time management is something that holds a lot of importance over your day making sure that deadlines are met and that you do everything you promise you will to your clients. Further, I have built on my skills on Excel as this is something I rarely used in the past.

I have only just began my programme however it is very well organised despite the issues technologically on webinars etc. I have already completed an apprenticeship with BBP so the programme is not new to me and I know from past experience that they are very supportive throughout all stages in the apprenticeships

The programme is somewhat organised, I do feel as though this can be improved though. I don't feel as though they give enough information or specific dates in the beginning of the programme when it comes to on boarding and actually starting the apprenticeship the line almost goes dead and it can be hard to keep up with the progress that is being made.

In my past apprenticeship again with BBP and NatWest, I found there to be a serious lack of support given, and that other things were prioritised over my apprenticeship which lead to delays and lead to the programme being extremely stressful for myself. Thankfully in the new apprenticeship I have started this year my line manager has been more than supportive around the apprenticeship and has been as involved in the process as possible which has really improved the experience I have had.

I received a lot of support from my mentor throughout the apprenticeship and we caught up often to make sure I was okay given the lack of support from my employer in my first apprenticeship. My mentor fought my corner with NatWest to make sure that I was getting the appropriate time and to make sure that I was being supported throughout by them as well.

I believe that my apprenticeship was very relevant to my role so it helped me build on skills I may not have been able to refine as well had I not been on the apprenticeship such as, coaching skills and personal development plans which helped me massively when it came to quarterly reviews and job interviews

In my new role in the corporate banking space, there are lots of social activities and networking opportunities I have been able to register for, for example I am doing an 8 week mentoring and mentoree course where I get to network with a variety of people from other apprentices and graduates to colleagues who have been at NatWest for a long time and have lots of experience mentoring people, I have also registered for a 3 day long hackathon to again network with other colleagues from different areas of the bank and to build on other skills.

Yes

I would recommend the corporate side of NatWest as there is a completely different atmosphere around working and the way you are treated within the work space. There are plenty of networking opportunities and everyone is very helpful and happy to give advice. The corporate banking space is very diverse and you work with so many different people products and services that every day you learn something new and you aren't just doing the same tasks every day. It's a more relaxed environment that what I have experienced before and management really care about your health and wellbeing and encourage you to get a good work/life balance.

For someone applying to NatWest I would tell them to make sure that they are going into something they are passionate about as that way you will get the most out of the place that you are working. I would tell them to focus on where they want to be and make sure that they work through any barriers stopping them getting them from getting there, and to network and use the knowledge others have to help.