Relationship Manager Apprentice Review

I have been placed in a Corporate Finance team, but it is imporant to note that all apprentices are places in different teams across the bank. In my role, I do a mix of debt capital markets for bond issuance and interest rate risk management for hedging. Some daily reponsibilities as an apprentice is to complete some tasks for some transactions such as indicative rates pricing, valuations, credit line utilisation analysis, bond issuance, private placements, client meetings, client events, and utilisation of innovative tools to stay competitive.

Everyday I'm learning new skills, whether it be products, business processes, how to action tasks or just about the organisation as a whole. I've also learnt a lot of background macro economics, which has helped me in my role.

I do enjoy the programme, I like my team and my peers across the business. I like the fact that I'm still in contact with other apprentices and I like where I'm based.

I wish it was more structured at the beginning. I think there wasn't a lot of transparency during our induction about what would happen when we enter our teams. We started a week after the graduate programme started, and we couldn't help but compare their learning to ours, as it was much more structured and took a more practical approach to learning. I think the following training sessions were good, but wish their was a better timeline.

I've received a good amount of support. I haven't had to request anything extra, but they've been very accomodating to me so far.

A lot! BPP has been great. There was a lot of thoughtfulness when considering how to structure our apprenticeship and it's clear that they've listened to feedback and improved year on year. I'm most impressed with my coach. I get to have regular meetings with them and my manager, plus I get a lot of direction about how I'm doing.

Having the confidence to approach new situations (we worked on soft skills with BPP first). Building competency around subject matters and being able to evidence skills is a lot easier said than done, so being able to practice this regularly is really beneficial. Not all topics we cover are equally as relevant, but for the most part I'm really satisfied so far. It's complimentary to the desk learning that I've done.

There's a lot to do at NatWest. You could join the Junior Management team at the bank. There are plenty of networking opportunities, both casual and formal. There are volunteering opportunities available, and NatWest supports this with volunteering days allowance. There are friendly sports matches that happens right throughout the year. Lunch and learns for curious minds. There's something for everyone to do.

Yes

Plenty of opportunities for growth and development. There's so much to learn and explore, but I think the culture of the bank is really welcoming and structured for professional growth.

Be yourself. Be compassionate to others. Come prepared and ready. Not on the day prepared, but a 'gradual investment in myself' type of prepared.