I recently moved from a Mortgage Consultant role and my job has changed completely. I am now a Sales Team Manager and am responsible for leading a team of five people through compliant sales of personal loans and repayment protection insurance. I have very little contact with customers and my daily activities revolve around listening to call monitoring and checking my team's lending applications. The Sales department is a relatively new branch of a larger team which is expanding all the time. It's an exciting place to work and we have an excellent social committee which organises opportunities for everyone to get together.
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Ian Russell, 23 years |
Education: Part-time BA student in Business Studies and Management
Title: Team Manager Sales
Department: Northern Bank, Belfast
Years of service: 3 years |
No regrets
l have always been interested in business and business studies was an obvious choice. I have friends and family working in banks so I knew what it was all about before I started. I must admit that this is not the career path I imagined to have. However, I have no regrets. I am young and motivated and I want to climb the ladder.
The bank provides an opportunity for that. The personal development plan and appraisals the bank has are good tools for guiding me further in my career. I have also been successful in applying for and being selected for the Talent Identification programme. This will involve more coaching and development opportunities to further my career in the bank.
Enter computers
Joining the Danske Bank Group was exciting. The new IT platform got us really up to speed. Some of our older employees felt that it was quite a struggle to learn to use the new systems. Fortunately, there were many young people around who were more familiar with computers so they were able give their colleagues help and support. Everything is now computer-based and more regulated. I am sure that some people had a hard time giving up working with paper. Our sales unit in Customer Direct is completely paper free, the agreements for our new loans are printed and dealt with off site.
International environment
We are now an international bank and I can see that in my daily work. If there are any problems or issues that need to be clarified, I can just pick up the phone and call Denmark. We are constantly speaking with people internationally. Being part of an international company also gives us opportunities to work abroad.
I was a Danske Guide for the Sampo Bank migration in April 2008. This was a fantastic experience and opened my eyes to the cultural differences that the Group faces throughout Europe. As part of the Talent Identification Programme I will hopefully get the opportunity to work for another brand within the Group. This would be great experience in dealing with people from other backgrounds and learning about the banking system in another country.