IT Support Review
at NatWest Group
Higher Level Apprenticeship
Information Technology
Glasgow
Review Submitted: March 2022
Overall Rating
4.7 /5
The Overall Rating is the average of all the ratings given in each category. We take those individual ratings and combine them into one final score!
4.5/5
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Overview of Role
5/5
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Skills Development
4.6/5
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Structure and Support
Overview of Role
Please give an overview of your role and what this involves on a day-to-day basis:
5/5
My role involves handling incoming support tickets/calls from across the company, resolving issues that arise through these sources and escalating them whenever I'm unable to do so. I also help in processing data created within the business for reports, mostly using excel. There are frequent meetings throughout the day covering various subjects from team specific to business wide.
To what extent do you enjoy your programme?
4/5
I derive great enjoyment from my program and the progression it provides, the opportunity to both work and learn cannot be understated. Seeing the knowledge you pick up put into practice in a "live environment" is something that brings great satisfaction and serves to solidify any learning done by immediate repetition.
Skills Development
Have you learnt any new skills or developed existing skills?
5/5
As the apprenticeship continues onwards I have been both brushing up on previously held skills and learning new ones, for example I was recently sent on a 2 week Managing Windows 10 course by QA, in which I covered previously known things but also expanded my knowledge into more business specific technologies/use cases.
Structure and Support
How well organised/structured is your programme?
5/5
The program is very well structured and is flexible enough that I can work around it, for example at the beginning of my apprenticeship I was giving many different start dates for the courses I was to attend and allowed to chose the times that best suited both me and the team I'm working in.
How much support do you receive from your employer?
5/5
I work in a small team of 4, me being the 4th member. This means I have a very close working relationship with my line manager, I'm able to reach out to both him and my colleagues if any issues/questions arise and have done so frequently, getting an immediate response every time.
How much support do you receive from your training provider when working towards your qualifications?
5/5
My manager and the COO of the company (Mentor, a company owned by NatWest) have been explicit in permitting me to take time away from work to make progress on my apprenticeship either through self directed study or attending the courses offered by either my training provider (QA) or other teams within the company itself.
How well do you feel that your qualification (through your training provider) helps you to perform better in your role?
3/5
I would say that the training QA provide has certainly been useful in helping me progress faster than I otherwise would have had I been learning these things through working and studying by myself/within the team. Although not all of the material I cover has been particularly relevant to the work I'm doing.
Are there extra-curricular activities to get involved in at your work? (For example, any social activities, sports teams, or even professional networking events.)
5/5
There any many different extra-curricular activities to get involved in, just before christmas I had attended a chistmas social where I got to meet the wider team within which my team is a part of, first having drinks in the boardroom and then moving on to various bars throughout the town.
Recommendations & Advice
Would you recommend NatWest Group to a friend?
Yes
Why?
The company offers its employees a lot of support throughout their career, Mentor specifically has allotted budgets for team training that they're more than willing to use in order to help you progress in whatever field you are apart of, I'm personally studying towards an external certification that is highly regarded in the field I work in.
What tips or advice would you give to others applying to NatWest Group?
You get out what you put in, if you're willing to show your managers and theirs that you're going to work your hardest you will receive all the support that they can offer in my personal experience. Don't be afraid to try out new things either, the company has many different roles available within it and a lateral transfer is always an option, even if only for a day or so to get experience you otherwise wouldn't be able to get.
