Banking Consultant Review

My day to day role is opening and reviewing customer accounts, looking at any banking, savings, lending and home insurance needs, maximising income, minimising expenditure and helping to create lifelong financial habits. This also includes referring onto partners such as mortgages and financial advisors, and reaching out to customers to get them to come in for a review where we see that they may benefit from talking to someone in branch.

I have learnt a lot more as to why my role is heavily regulated, such as why with lending we need to ensure good customer outcomes in order to follow the Standards of Lending Practise for personal customers, as well as improving my confidence and expertise when talking to customers in regards to any aspect of their finances as I have a greater understanding

I'm absolutely loving this apprenticeship, I am learning something that I genuinely enjoy in comparison to previous educational experiences and that it is genuinely helping me become better at the job that I am doing, as well as motivating me to think about what it is I want to do in the future as part of the professional development

I find that the programme is well organised and structured, we are given all important dates well in advance, up to 7 months in advance with some meetings, ensuring that we have plenty of time to ensure that we are available on days where we have meetings, and also plenty of time to give notice if unable to attend

I have found that I get really good support from my employer, giving me an extra hour a week outside of the mandatory hours to help me with my studies and professional development, as well as setting me up with a mentor to help me with ideas for my development.

Babbington is extremely supportive, from the first contact they were extremely supportive, providing additional learning support when I mentioned I'd previously been diagnosed with ADHD meaning I got extra time in exams, as well as my tutor always being either at the other end of an email or phone call when need be, and is always very responsive, sometimes even getting replies on her days off which is brilliant

I have noticed that I feel much more confident in my role since starting my course, and from this it is helping me perform better in my role as I am able to have better conversations with customers and am able to help both their stated and unstated needs moreso than before

As far as I am aware there are not many or any extra curricular activities to become involved in with work, I have seen the occasional 'competition' extra curricular networking events however only a few people get selected for these and can be far to travel which is restricting on entering to be a part of thrm

Yes

I have found that since working for Lloyds Banking Group I have been able to thrive more, I have found a career I enjoy, with supportive team and management surrounding me, great benefits on top, and a place that feels as if it does genuinely care for its employees in comparison to other companies I've worked for in the past.

I'm not sure on tips or advice that I would give. It can be a stressful place to work, and can be fast paced, build a great relationship with your team and be willing to help others, and build on your resilience to bounce back and you'll do great