Senior Research Assistant Review

I work in the Data and Statistics Division, on Money and Credit data. This is high profile data, used by a wide variety of sources. I am responsible for plausibility checking data submitted by financial institutions, and ensuring the data we publish are of a high quality. I also answer queries - both internally and externally.

Throughout my time at the Bank, I've learnt about personal resillience and leadership. All of the skills I've developed, I've proactively identified and discussed with my management in order to get the opportunities required for me to develop these skills. This is something I've learnt to do at the Bank, and am happy to take ownership of my own learning to do this.

I am happy with my degree apprenticeship programme. I have been able to take the opportunities I want because I have supportive management. There have been challenges - as there might be in any job - but overall the experience is positive and I'm glad I joined the Bank. Specific to my course, I enjoy the content and it is relevant to what I want to do.

The course has a set structure that is easy to follow. It is quite independent and so there isn't much interaction with other learners or my tutor, but I am able to reach out to those people and ask necessary questions as and when I want. This works well for me but if you struggle being proactive then this may not be ideal. Otherwise, there's little oversight as to what will be coming up next in the programme but you know it will be in the same format of previous pieces of work covered.

My employeer provides me my 20% time as agreed, and have no issues with me taking these days. They are also open to conversations to help me gain necessary experience in other areas of the Bank to enhance my learning, which is great as this can really help put knowledge into context.

I have a monthly call with my tutor, and a quarterly workshop where we learn about the next unit. However, I am able to email/call my tutor at any point and have discussions or ask any questions. This means the level of support I receive is fully dependent on how much I require.

Overall, fairly well. It is not pertinent to my role, but is in line with my future career ambitions. The skills I have learnt have pushed me to better myself, and have also taught me a lot about communicating with others at varying levels of seniority. It has helped boost my confidence, and it is reassuring knowing I have a good level of understanding of areas those around me might not.

Yes - there are often social activities and motivational events to get involved with. These often occur on a team basis, so you will spend quality team with team members. There are also networks across the Bank which help people to grow their list of contacts and to meet others with similar interests.

Yes

I've been able to learn about myself and about the Bank. This is an exciting place to work, and if you're proactive you can seek out great opportunities and really develop yourself. The staff are supportive and encouraging, and can help you develop towards individually set goals if you ask.

The Bank values are core to working at the Bank. Make sure that you are aware of what these are and have examples of how these are used in day to day life. Also, be yourself in the interview - the Bank is diverse, and roles are filled based on experience and knowing who will work well with the team.