Apprentice Review

I work in the Real Estate Finance North Coverage team which sits within NatWest’s Corporate and Commercial Coverage business. My main function is to support a Relationship Director (RM). I mainly support one Relationship Director (my line manager) however I do often get tasks from other directors in our region. I primarily perform clerical tasks such as: • Producing pricing models • Producing cashflow models • General customer enquires (i.e access issues or general questions) • Assisting with sightings papers • Submitting requests to credit (i.e security releases, consent to lease documents, etc)

Yes I have learned a whole host of new skills, particularly around the Real Estate industry. I am also new to banking so every new task I pick up is a brand new learning experience. On top of this, I have developed my interpersonal skills and I've had to adapt to learning and networking remotely.

I am enjoying my programme very much, I feel I am getting lots of exposure and I have already been giving a fair amount of responsibility early on which I hope continues. There are still a few grey areas and teething problems with my course and apprenticeship provider however I am hoping these will be ironed out in the weeks and months ahead.

It could be better. The structure of my course was not easy to understand at the start and there is still uncertainty about what my end goal is. I am given on the job training and tasks to perform in my role but I'm not sure if my course is relevant to this. There hasn't been any communication about the role that I'm expected to fulfil at the end of my apprenticeship[This section of the comment has been removed by a member of the RateMyApprenticeship Team because it did not meet our site terms and conditions]

I receive lots of support from my line manager and from above. I am regularly given tasks and responsibilities. There is a wealth of information on the intranet with regards to learning and also wellbeing. There is an emphasis on wellbeing and it is clear the company takes it very seriously. I have regular check ins with my manager to see how I'm doing etc.

It is too early to answer this properly however the support so far has been okay. There does however seem to be somewhat of a disconnect between my training provider and the professional accreditors (The Chartered Banker Institute). It is my understanding that my provider will assist me with their assignments (the reflective work based journals) however when it comes to the professional qualification assignments, they will deliver the content however we are advised to contact the CBI if we have any questions about the assignment. We have not really been formally introduced to the CBI or shown how to interact them. It would be far better if the provider had in house experts that could help us with our CBI assignments as well as the BBP assignments.

At the moment, not very well. As I alluded to previously, my current role is more clerical/admin based and the qualification appears to be geared more towards a leadership/management role. I was lead to believe the role would reflect this as the title of the role/apprenticeship is 'Senior Relationship Management Apprenticeship' however this does not appear to be the case. I understand that everyone must start somewhere and the more I understand the role, the more it makes sense to start off at the bottom and learn the admin/clerical side however there have been no conversations about where this will lead (if anywhere). The 'senior management' aspect of the job title that was advertised has not been discussed at all, whether or not this will come in the future remains to be seen - I certainly hope it does.

Yes, there are many. This is something NatWest is brilliant at. We have several employee lead networks that support all different walks of life. We are keen to play an active role in the communities we support, including things such as tree planting, beach/river clean ups, sponsors of charity sport events such as the Kilt Walk in Scotland. We also support wellbeing and getting active, evident in the ongoing Virgin Go Challenge which tracks steps and activities.

Yes

It is a fantastic company to work for that puts the health and wellbeing of its colleagues first. There are many things to get involved with and they support you in your passions. I personally think the pension and pay scheme could be simplified and I'm not really sure how we compare to the rest of the industry on Pay (I suspect not the best) however overall it is a good company with good people.

Throw yourself at opportunities but try not to do too much as something else will have to give. Be curious, ask questions. If you are struggling then do not suffer in silence and let someone know. Take advantage of the brilliant opportunities out there and be strict with your own development. Block time out to concentrate on learning etc.