Working in a Bank (Customer Advisor)

london80s

...........
Thanks

Voyager2002

Since you have been given it at a time when so many others are applying, it is safe to assume that you have the personal qualities and skills that are needed.

london80s

Reply
....

Macca83_2

Congratulations on the job.

Id imagine that the training course for any retail bank would provide you with the bare essentials to do the job. Most of the real knowledge comes from working out on the floor dealing with day to day enquiries. Id expect alot of team building exercises, basic practise of processing transactions, how to talk/deal with customers, sales, risk procedures etc

InsideInsurance

Two weeks training sounds fairly light, tbh. You'll have some corporate stuff, some compliance, some systems, some product and some processes.

I dont know of any customer service role that will get a glowing review from staff.

As ability to grow from it? It is certainly possible, going up the traditional chain of team leader, manager, branch manager, area manager is inevitably slow going but once you've a foot in the door and proven yourself then some more creative diagonal jumps via internal recruitment and taking below market salary can get you up much quicker and then ultimately you make the jump to another employer to sort the salary element

Mockingjay1

I worked there in 2005 as a customer advisor for approx 18 months, I imagine the job role has changed some since then.

I enjoyed my time there but that was mainly down to my colleagues being so nice, I did feel a bit pressuried to sell sell sell on products (at that time they were flogging PPI like nobodys business) and we had to hit a certain number of referrals to the banking/mortgage advisors. The pay wasnt great either, back then it was about £10500 a year but no idea what it is now, bonus could bump up your wages but this was paid annually and depended on how well your branch did hitting its sales targets.

However I did get the impression that if you worked hard there and impressed your manager there was quite a lot of scope for promotions and moving upwards so I wouldnt say it is a bad place to work.

Good luck x

*Scarlett

Working in a bank branch you will come accross stressful situations - unhappy customers, targets not met, etc. But who doesn't have some kind of stress in their job?

The training will probably give you the basic info that you need for the job - product knowledge, systems, compliance, etc.

The big companies usually have opportunities to progress and if they have employed you it's in their interests to develope your skills. If you are ambitious you should take advantage of this to progress your career.

AndyWales_2

I started in a similair role with Abbey in 2003 (now Sanatander), I only had GCSE's and no other formal qualifications). I worked hard and within 2 years I was a qualified Mortgage Adviser. I got out of the industry in 2007 so my experience may not reflect the current climate.

It is stressful (happy customers rarely come into the branch), and there will be pressure to sell and hit targets (banks are basically large sales organisations now).

I worked with great people and had a really good time. If you don't have another job - give it a try! You may really like it!

london80s

Great advice!

valos_mummy

The only job I ever quit without another role to go to was in retail banking (in 2006) - on cashiering. Agree with everyone in that the pressure to refer customers for sales appointments was huge. Straightforward cashiering was brilliant, but with a manager literally breathing down your neck and making suggestions about what to say to a customer - when the customer is RIGHT in front of you and can hear everything - arrgh.

I did make a small jump in becoming a front facing advisor (greeting, directing people. helping with enquiries etc) but soon got shunted back to the cashier desk when stress among staff meant shortages, and customers were barking at me to "get back behind that desk and serve, I don't want you out here". Lovely.

Like I said, I left for my own health and sanity (crying became a daily activity for me towards the end, fun times) but if you can handle sales and the pressure you can go up. A colleague who started a bit after me took to it better than I did, and made manager in no time!

Russe11

customer advisor = sales person