Banking and Finance Assistant Review

On a daily basis, I would generally find myself doing jobs to assist the banking team at HSBC. This mainly included interactions with customers and on occassions, talking to customers about banking plans etc. There were many interactions within the branch but not much further than that. I did feel as though I had some responsibility as I was sometimes advising customers about what plans to go for. We did not undertake any big projects while I was there.

I learnt quite a few skills while working there. This was mainly in the form of knowledge of the field. I gained knowledge about the different types of banking and when they would be required by considering the client e.g. whether it is a personal account or for businesses. I also learnt many communication skills and was able to improve on these during my time there by talking to customers and helping them choose plans/

I did get to see a lot of the different roles within HSBC and was able to grasp and understand them. However, since I was mainly working in one specific area, I was not able to do tasks related to those other roles and I was therefore not able to fully understand these roles. I think a wider range of tasks in many different aspects would have helped me to understand these roles to a greater extent.

The company culture was very refreshing and this made it a very enjoyable place to work. Although company activities and events were few and far between, the general feel and atmosphere at the workplace was very inviting and this made it a lovely place to work. There was a range of different people working there, from many different backgrounds, and this was extremely nice to see that the branch and the company was very inclusive.

I did enjoy the insight to an extent. For the first few weeks, the work was very exciting to me and I really enjoyed doing it. However, during the final week of the placement, I felt like the placement had dragged out quite a bit and some of the tasks seemed a bit repetitive and monotonous since I was really confined to one area of work while there. The team were always extremely supportive and friendly which made it worth it.

Yes

To others applying to HSBC, I would say to make sure you read up on the company values before making an application and make sure to embed this into your cover letter. Furthermore, you should try to bring up these values whenever you can during your interview as the company will be looking for ways that you display these to see whether you will be a good fit there. I would also say to make sure you're somewhat familiar with bank roles before you start day one.