Portfolio Manager Review

I was an apprentice in Credit Stewardship for Portfolio Management. I began training by sitting with assigned buddy and shadowed her for a few weeks until I felt comfortable to try tasks on my own. Tasks included sending Financial Information/Management Information to our India team for keying onto the bank wide system , monitoring the Daily Excess Report to see if customers were overdrawn. I attended daily huddles where the whole team would gather together to discuss bank communications, prioritise tasks for the day etc.

I have gained a bank recognised qualification, Professional Banker Certificate. I am enrolled onto to study and pass the Certificate in Lending Skills. I have ambitions to go onto passing the Diploma in lending skills which the bank is happy to support. I have developed confidence and communication skills throughout my apprenticeship and learnt how to work in a professional environment.

I have enjoyed my apprenticeship programme, from passing the exam and gaining a qualification to studying towards my monthly task books. I have enjoyed learning about portfolio management and my time in my apprenticeship team will certainly help me to gain jobs elsewhere in the business. It was a shame that my whole team was made redundant though, the bank shouldn't have hired apprentices when they knew this was round the corner.

My Line-Manager was incredibly supportive with everything I wanted to do, she helped me pursue my career aspirations and set me up with the correct mind set and behaviours to expand my career. Higher up within the business do not seem to recognise you though.

2 day induction in London was organised and relevant to the role I was joining. Having a assigned buddy was useful and made me feel at ease. Weekly 121's with my line-manager were effective and helped me remove any barriers I was facing.

Plenty of support from my tutor if I was stuck she was happy to help. We always kept to our monthly calls. Feedback was given when necessary.

Plenty of support from my Line-Manager, always happy to help me develop and improve and give me recognition when appropriate. I didn't really have a mentor however, this is something I would like to look into in future.

Very good salary especially just after finishing college and being used to living like a student. This pay package was great and met all my living costs and social costs! Also left me with room to boost my savings!

I attended many networking events and business breakfasts to help develop my profile. I am also a Special Constable and so the bank are supportive of this as a volunteering initiative.

Yes

Brilliant opportunity to kick-start your career and develop yourself. Once you get in with the bank there are many opportunities within it that you can progress onto if you are willing to put the work in.

Make sure you fully prepare for the competency stage interview and have examples ready and practiced to deliver to your interviewer.