I was called upstairs to David’s office (The man who organised my placement) and he handed me my card pass, which would help me get around the building and also gave me a simple standard safety talk which was compulsory for anyone doing work experience. He was very welcoming and gave me a short talk about what I would be doing at the bank and any other rules that had to be given. After this he told me that for the 1st day he would put me with my mum, up on the 1st floor at the cashiers till. It’s their job to deal with the bank accounts and adding and taking money from accounts. I sat and observed them until 11:30 which was lunchtime! I found it a bit strange having lunch so early as I was used to having it much later, but as I had an early start I was starving and quickly wolfed down my KFC. We had an hour for lunch and we strolled round the shops and I got a whistle-stop tour of Oxford Street. For the rest of the day I carried on observing the cashier and was amazed at the speed that they work at. By around 3 o’ clock I was shattered and just wanted to sleep but there was still 2 more hours and that long train journey to look forward to.
On the second day the whole routine before we got to the office was repeated and I entered the place wondering what I was going to do today. I then found out. I was going to be put with the councillors who were downstairs and deal with pretty much everything from account opening to catching fraudsters. I was assigned with the task of putting up the new display for the bank as they entered the 3rd Quarter of the year. Sitting and working with the councillors was a great experience as there is a huge variety of things that they do any you’ve got to be on your feet all the time. I would have definitely said that this day was definitely better than the first day with the cashiers as I was a lot more active. This made me feel more welcome to the company as, I wasn’t really given any other compulsory jobs.
On the 3rd day which was a Wednesday I was with the Mortgage manager and he was on an inter-branch trip to other local branches. It’s his job to sort out all of the mortgages for the surrounding area so it’s a pretty demanding job. We went to the Edgware Rd. Branch and collaborated with the Branch Manager there about all of the different mortgages that had come through. Then we went over to the Hannover Square branch where we had scheduled 2 meetings with clients that wanted to take out mortgages. The day was really tiring due to all of the travelling!
On Thursday I was out with the Premier team who deals with all of the upper class clients. The Branch is really lucky as they had a whole floor dedicated to their Premier Service. In order to be a Premier customer you have to have at least £75k in your savings account and a mortgage of at least £250k with Barclays, so these people have some serious financial clout. The highlight of the day was probably this one customer that we had who was arguing over the phone to the Customer Services Manager whilst arguing with the Premier Assistants!
On Friday I was partnered with the Business team and was very lucky as the Business Specialist there has been voted the Top Specialist in the UK for this Year! It was a very quiet day and I spent most of it ripping up cheque books due to there being such a low amount of Appointments. I felt like I was, really involved in this business, as the main tasks were given to me and I felt important to the company. I was motivated to more work and get better reviews from my mentor.
Looking back on the 1st week I was absolutely delighted as I had such a great time but also absolutely knackered as it was so different to what I do week in week out at school.
In the second week I was told that I could choose to be with who I wanted so I chose to be with the Councillors simply because there’s a lot more variety and action down there compared to the rest of the Branch.
This day was the most memorable day of my work experience. I witnessed a lot of overdue accounts and we had to sort these accounts, but unfortunately there were only 2 workers in, as the others reported to be ill. So that day I went on and did most of the work. Hours after hours I leaned forward and carried on working to finish these accounts before, the company gets negative reviews. This was the first time; I thought my work was sufficient and worthy. My mentor and the Boss, congratulated me for my work and said “Your commitment is great, and I hope you will succeed in life” this moment motivated to become an account or something that I am good at.
Waking up again felt easier. I got up knowing work was needed to be done and that now I am fully capable of doing it. This day was one of my best as I was given real responsibility where I was left alone to work. Of course they checked everything I did and I felt great. I felt like I was part of this company and I fitted in so well, that my mentor took me to lunch. I felt like a real professional, my whole life I was treated like a little boy, and I felt nice to be treated differently. My mentor then gave me a pep talk, telling me that life gets easier after GCSE’s as; you grow up more and start realizing to put more effort in. He also told me, not to stress all the time and have fun sometimes but not, a lot. My mentor was like a friend to me, he even told me he used to be as enthusiastic as me. And that I reminded him of when he was my age. I felt privileged to be sitting next to a person who admires my work.
After spending 4 days their working and getting to know the councillors it was time to say goodbye and leave the bank. I was given £20 in HMV vouchers and was told that I was credit to myself and my family so that really did top off the whole fortnight.
Looking back on it now, Work Experience was a truly worthwhile Experience and I feel that the skills I have learnt over these 2 weeks will be invaluable in later life. I had met lots of great people and have kept in touch with most of them which is pretty easy thanks to my mum! I think from this experience I will take a lot of the skills I learned to get on with my life and use these skills to fulfil my ambitions and my full potential.