IB Operations – Apprentice Review

I work in the stock borrow loan (SBL) trade support team. Essentially we support the traders who source stock to cover client's short positions, This mainly involves: - reaching out to other banks to gather account information, which I then collate and send to another internal team. - Investigating trade breaks and fails - Supporting the traders with any manual tasks and queries - Carrying out daily controls to ensure everything is working as it should be - Working on projects that increase automation and efficiency

The main skill I have developed is Excel as this is a software I use constantly. There are many different systems and software that I have developed the skill to be able to use. I am also learning Pyhton and alteryx which are tools that are used all the time within this industry, especially in investment banking.

I genuinely thoroughly enjoy the program. I have been placed into a team with a strong family culture, and it has been extremely easy to settle into my job role. The university side is also very enjoyable as the course is relevant to your job role and the content is highly interesting. The only difficulty I would say is studying at university whilst working a full time job isn't easy at all - however with the right organisation and commitment it isn't too bad.

The program is so well organised, and both the bank and the university constantly check in to make sure everything is going well. I have my manager who I have regular 1-1s with, my university mentor who I have a meeting with once every two months, my UBS mentor who I meet with Bi-weekly, and lastly the apprentice check in meetings which are carried out every 90 days by the apprentice team.

One of the main areas of support is that we get given the whole of Wednesday off as a study day which is very useful, and like I mentioned previously, there are so many different streams of support, I always feel like my employer has my back through my work, University course and also through personal situations.

The university provide masterclasses which are either 3 hours long in the morning, or all day long. We also have mentors from the university who check on us to make sure all the work is going well. Finally, it is easy to setup meetings with any of my lecturers during their office hours where they are more than happy to provide additional support when needed.

The course I have taken - Applied finance, is highly relevant to my role. Whatever I learn about during my course, I can almost always link to my job role, and if not , it provides a high level of background knowledge which supports your general understanding of the financial services sector as a whole.

Personally, as my personal life is so busy I don't really have time for extra curricular activities outside of work, however I do attend networking events during work hours. There are many options available however such as sports teams who meet up weekly, social events and networking events - they all happen on a regular basis.

Yes

Because UBS is all about people and having a strong family culture. When your an apprentice who is completely new to the industry and have little to no knowledge - just determination and basic skills, there is nothing better than a company who truly take care of their staff, and strongly support you through your learning. This is what UBS is extremely good at in my opinion.

- Ask lots of strong relevant questions during the interview process. - Do thorough research on your job role, the bank and the industry as a whole - Keep up with the news - During the interview be yourself - Interviewers can tell when you have practiced questions word for word. - The most important thing they are looking for is someone who is determined and driven - so just make sure you show how interested you are and how much getting the apprenticeship would mean to you. - First impressions are everything!