Apprentice Review

by NatWest

Best Apprenticeship Employer

Rating

8.6/10

1. Please give an overview of your role and what this involves on a day-to-day basis:

I work with large corporate clients, providing them with financial solutions. These range from loans to risk management products like interest rate swaps and FX hedging. A lot of the role revolves around upkeeping systems and using powerpoint and excel

9/10

2. Have you learnt any new skills or developed existing skills?

I've learnt a huge amount, not just in hard skills like financial analysis but also soft skills like networking, leadership and public speaking. I've accumulated over 400 hours of training since starting my apprenticeship.

10/10

3. To what extent do you enjoy your programme?

I do enjoy the program and I feel that I've gained (and will continue to gain) a lot from it. However, the work can be hard and there are many times where balancing work, study and personal commitments becomes stressful.

7/10

4. How well organised/structured is your programme?

The learning plan set out at the beginning is straightforward and sensible. We get a good amount of time to complete each assignment. On my programme, it works out that I'm only working on one assignment at a time, which helps reduce the workload.

8/10

5. How much support do you receive from your employer?

A lot. NatWest is incredibly supportive and I've always received additional training when I ask for it. I don't think they could do anything better in this regard.

10/10

6. How much support do you receive from your training provider when working towards your qualifications?

Support is good, but sometimes there has been confusion around the qualification itself and what exactly we're doing. this was in the beginning of the program and all sorted now, however this was a concern for my cohort.

8/10

7. How well do you feel that your qualification (through your training provider) helps you to perform better in your role?

It gives wider context to the banking industry which I would not normally get from my on-desk training. Not all of it is directly applicable, but definitely useful to have.

7/10

8. Are there extra-curricular activities to get involved in at your work? (For example, any social activities, sports teams, or even professional networking events.)

Plenty, more than you could hope to attend really. There truly is something for everyone in terms of socials and events. We have great employee lead networks (ELNs) that you can join as well as sports clubs. Although I'm talking about my experience in the London office, smaller offices might be different.

10/10

9a. Would you recommend NatWest to a friend?

Yes

9b. Why?

Great investment in their people, long-term career prospects and a great place to work. If I had friends interested in a banking career, I would suggest NatWest

10. What tips or advice would you give to others applying to NatWest?

Read up on what we're doing in terms of our purpose. Have a look at our linkedin page to see what big deals we've done recently. Take a look at our product offering. Also, bring questions about all of the above to the interview to have a good discussion about what the bank does and how it stands out from competition etc.