Last week, private bank and wealth management firm Coutts featured in our business profile series, focussing particularly on their early career and apprenticeship opportunities. This week, we interviewed one of their current apprentices.
Name: Joseph Williams
Age: 19
Job title: Banking & Digital Support Officer, Coutts
Length of time at Coutts: 6 months
Apprentice Joe Williams
What does your job entail? I am an apprentice on the Cards team within Banking & Digital Support. I provide support to Coutts frontline staff, dealing with client requests and queries related to the cards process. As an apprentice I am also working towards my NVQ level 3 in Business Administration, which means I have a number of projects, assessments and exams that I need to study for on top of my day to day role.
What were you doing before the apprenticeship? After leaving Bristol Cathedral School in November 2014, I worked as a sports coach for Future Stars Coaching. During my time there I worked with a range of 6-12 year old students from schools in and around Nailsea, coaching them in a number of sporting activities.
How did you get the job and why were you interested in it? I came across the RBS apprenticeship vacancies on the Gov.uk website. I applied online, initially completing a number of situational judgement tests and then proceeding through the recruitment process, which involved a telephone interview and a final face to face interview and assessment.
I was initially attracted to this apprenticeship as it sounded like an interesting environment to work in, and one that I could see myself pursuing a career in. I was interested in learning more about Private Banking and the diverse range of clients that Coutts serves.
What do you like most interesting about the position? I really enjoy the variety of work and the opportunities that the bank offers. Since joining Coutts as an apprentice I have increased my knowledge of the cards process and have been given the opportunity to get involved with its transition between other sites and Bristol. This has meant that I have been able to go to London and meet a number of stakeholders and really build relationships with them.
What do you want to do next? I am really enjoying working for Coutts and RBS, and would like to continue to build my knowledge of the different departments and processes within the organisation. I am looking forward to new opportunities to grow within the organisation.
To find out more about careers with Coutts, email ambitions@rbs.co.uk or visit www.jobs.rbs.com and http://yourpassionyourpotential.rbs.com/. To find out more about Coutts generally, visit their website or follow them on Twitter.
