WPB Degree Apprenticeship 2021 Autumn Review

Currently I am on my third of four years on the HSBC Degree Apprenticeship and am currently a Team Manager in a telephony contact centre. My previous two placement roles were as a Universal Banker in branch, and as a Project Officer in Retirement Advice. The role is really rewarding and I've learned so much during my time on the programme. I've always wanted to try being a people leader to see if I would truly enjoy it, and so far I'm thoroughly enjoying it. My daily life currently looks like organising my team through 1:1s, coaching sessions, resource scheduling, second-line query resolution when telephony agents are stuck with a customer query, and the various administrative tasks that go with managing a team of people! I highly recommend applying for the HSBC Degree Apprenticeship.

I've learned a lot about taking ownership, task prioritisation, leading people.

When I began with the programme there were a lot of issues internally with the Apprenticeship team at HSBC, the team and the programme have since been redesigned and has improved significantly in the 3 years I've been on it and new starters now have a much better time than we did, thanks to our feedback. So overall now the programme is certainly excellent. It must be said that there are sometimes issues with the training provider and the University that offers our degree (London Institute of Banking and Finance). Having previously studied with the Open University, I've been disappointed with the quality of resources that the LIBF has in comparison as a primarily remote-based educator. However, again, the overall experience has been great and it certainly isn't a reason to *not* apply, but is something to keep in mind.

The programme is fairly well structured. We have a Wednesday as our study day, whereby we are expected not to undertake any work-placement related work and only to focus on studying/assignment writing and any tasks assigned by the training provider Kaplan. In terms of the academic side, there aren't any exams to take and all modules comprise two assignments (one in the middle of the module and one at the end) that make up your overall grade for that module.

As mentioned before, at the beginning of the programme there was a dearth of support. The programme as it was told/sold to us was not what we ended up on. However, they have since rectified these issues and now I can happily say that there is a lot of support available. Whether that be through 1:1s with your placement manager, 1:1s with your programme specialist (they look after you programme-wise throughout your time on the course), your talent coach (provided through the training provider), and also lecturers through the Uni.

They're very good at providing good feedback for work you have submitted which is really useful in assignments. For instance, you have the option to submit a 200-word plan before each assignment that your lecturer will then give you feedback on. This really gives you a good idea as to whether or not you're on the right track with your assigment.

My qualification certainly helps me perform better in my role. This current module I am working on is titled 'strategic management in finance' and comprises how strategy influences management decisions, and how to analyse those decisions using various tools. In my current placement as a Team Manager I use these information every week in my role, helping me to truly understand the strategic importance of any decisions I make or important information that I cascade out to my team.

There are plenty of extra-curricular activities in my business, however these are all based in other areas where I do not live close to.

Yes

It's a fantastic place to work with a great, non-toxic culture, and great benefits. The pension & private insurances available are excellent, I have used the Bupa health cover a couple of times and it was a god send when compared to trying to deal with my local GP. The actual work place culture is excellent in my opinion, I've worked in a few business areas and while each area will always have its own separate sub-culture, the over arching culture is one of support an wellbeing.

HSBC is a giant international bank. While HSBC UK is of course specifically UK based, when applying for HSBC always keep in mind that you need to consider international colleagues and considering new ways of thinking through collaborating with your network.