Compliance Higher Apprentice Review

Compliance Assurance Financial crime, supports Compliance in achieving its mission, purpose and objectives by providing an assurance capability to meet the demands of a world class Compliance function. The main responsibility was be to carry out assurance reviews and for ensuring the business effectively mitigate the risks of products and services being abused for the purposes of money laundering, terrorism financing, or other financial crime.

Throughout my time at the bank I have learnt and developed on the following skills: Written and verbal Communication skills Data Analytics skills Presenting skills Attention to detail Investigation skills MS Skills Time management Develop upon confidence How a banks compliance system operates and how functions relate to each other

Throughout the two years at the bank i have thoroughly enjoyed the programme. For my first year i was placed in the compliance assurance team and i am currently in my second rotation in the conduct framework and policy team. Both of these roles have allowed me to develop and learn a plethora of skills the will help me in the future.

The programme is fairly organised. Initially the onboarding process was quite drawn out and communication was unclear at times. This is as HR set a few milestones however these were not reached on time. However, the structure of the programme is good as everything is well planned and thought out.

Barclays provide a large network of support to its employees. There are areas within the company you can go to to get support for mental and physical health conditions. For example, if when working from home your chair is not supporting your back, Barclays will aim to provide you with a way to fix this. Managers also regularly check in with us and are happy to answer any queries or just increase our knowledge of areas we are unsure about.

We receive support from our training provider through weekly lessons and learning material. They respond to email relatively quickly- although more 1 to 1 sessions would be beneficial. Another area that is weaker is assignment feedback. Depending on the marker, this can either be thorough or very brief making it hard to know what to improve on.

During my time learning content for my qualification i have read and been taught about many areas of compliance and risk. this has helped to broaden my knowledge of the subject. Furthermore, writing the assignments at the end of each learning period has improved the quality of my written reports in the workplace.

At Barclays there are many opportunities to increase networking and take part in extra-curricular activities. Some teams will go out for team lunches or dinners. There are also networking groups such as Asian professionals group and the black professional group. Some employees will also attend the sports sessions, such a football.

Yes

Barclays has a myriad of opportunities in which to develop yourself as a professional. This can be through improving your soft skills or knowledge in various areas of the bank. The apprenticeship program allows you to experience different areas within the bank to help you decide where to take your career.

Ensure you are ready to balance both working and learning effectively to also have some down time at weekends. When having interviews i would further recommend remaining personable and being yourself as often companies are looking for your personality as much as they are looking for your knowledge and grades.