Apprentice Pension Administrator Review

by Barnett Waddingham

Rating

8.6/10

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

I look after member's pension funds and maintain their records, as well as wider client queries. This includes answering the helplines to various people and calculating benefits available. To do this, we communicate with the relevant parties such as trustees, colleagues and actuaries.

9/10

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

I have been studying for my Award in Pensions Essentials, which is the official qualification, as well as continuously developing my telephone confidence and computer skills

9/10

3. To what extent do you enjoy your programme?

The company is very good to work for and all of the colleagues are friendly. I enjoy the job as each day is very varied in terms of tasks and calls, and I never have the same day twice.

9/10

4. How well organised/structured is your programme?

Despite there being miscommunications with the apprenticeship work itself, there is good development speed and order, and the quality of learning is high.

6/10

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

i can talk to my manager and everyone at the company if I need any assistance with anything regardless of the size of the query

10/10

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

There have been a lot of unclear instructions and miscommunications with the apprenticeship coursework from the provider which has therefore led to a lot of confusion, extra work and stress. If mentioned soon enough, this gets refined and should not cause too much of an issue towards the end.

3/10

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

The qualification gives me a lot more background knowledge and a better understanding of my field. I can also apply a lot of the theory to my job role, especially when communicating with clients as I have learned a lot of the terminology and processes.

9/10

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.)

Yes, there are a lot of extra curricular activities such as Christmas parties, team meals, office-wide and company-wide sports games, external talks, and optional external training sessions

8/10

9a. Would you recommend Barnett Waddingham to a friend?

Yes

9b. Why?

They are a very good company overall and treat their employees very well. there are various employee benefits and it is very easy to communicate with the relevant people should you need to. It is also a very good company to start your career as they cater for that accordingly.

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

My best advice is to be yourself as the company will provide all of the relevant support to you at all times. There is also a lot of variation in your daily work, and so organisation is key.