To ask if you work in banking or finance?

[Namenamenewnewname]

where do you work, where have you worked and what’s it like?

i just came from the UKs shittest bank and looking for ones to avoid/ apply for

What sort of role are you looking for? Do you mean retail banking or investment banking?

not investment banking, more retail, potentially business/ commercial or wider financial services like life insurance or pensions or investments, mortgages etc

im looking for the places to avoid, especially benefit wise.

ive ruled out kroo and co-op bank due to poor benefits (ime poor benefits =poor culture)

not sure how I feel about starling and L&G and NWBS (low annual leave comparatively)

Does your previous employer start with L?

No it doesn’t but I’m intrigued as if this is a massive giant on the highstreet?

no my former employer has had a lot of bad press lately (well frankly forever) and share price is in the toilet

What benefits are you expecting? I'd have thought coop, even though they’d lost their way a bit, works have good flexible benefits

I always look for mat leave for an indicator on how they treat women, they offer only 12 weeks pay. Way behind the industry standard of 26 weeks

pension, life cover, IP and mat leave and private health those are the min for me

Oh and flex work, wfh, annual leave and good salary too

Which bank have you left/made redundant from?

natwest - I believe their Mat and Pat is like 6 months full

I worked for Coop for 7 years until I took voluntary redundancy, would def recommend them as an employer. A lot of focus on needs based not sales. Really enjoyed working for them, and progressed through a retail branch quite steadily.

Take a punt based on PP 😉

The benefits weren’t really captivating enough, it was far behind industry standards

That’s good to know, fantastic on the pat too! Speaks heavily to culture, love that.

what about bonuses, I know that following some scandals they stopped paying bonuses?

Virgin Money, although there is a lack of current jobs right now, the benefits package is excellent.

20 weeks full pay family leave , male or female. Then it goes to 50% for 12 weeks. 35 days holiday plus bank holidays. Good pension , private med insurance, and very flexible in the business world, less so in retail as obviously that requires a store presence.

Worry there is the potential nwbs acquisition. Nwbs brand is a lot stronger than VM so likely they’d absorb VM and benefits would be transferred to NWBS benefits. But I’d heard about their AL, not heard of any where that tops it. Abrdn is 32. Such a shame the VM benefits might not exist soon, and any merger brings redundancies

I’d strongly suggest having a look on Glass Door

I do, but those reviews can be faked, places definitely do that

True but I always look to see if there are any common themes emerging from the comments!

What do you do? "banking or finance" is very broad. Are you front or back office?

Id have a look at councils/NCA/ Police forces at financial investigator roles. Not banking or finances directly, but the experience will go in your favour

I've worked for a high street bank, a building society and a corporate bank. I left finance for a few years but ended up working for a free debt advice organisation .

Would you consider one of the challenger banks? Not traditional high street? I’ve worked for two well-known ones now (don’t want to say which publicly but feel free to PM me). They’re fast paced but great WFH flexibility and good maternity benefits. Life insurance and PM cover too! Great pay I’ve found. Only thing is no bonuses with them being investor backed.

I've worked for most of them in some capacity.
They are all shite.
The newer ones are your best bet. Metro, Monzo etc

The shithole I left is listed in there. You’re absolutely best bet not to go there. No way in hell. I’d much rather go to a big place or a place where the share price isn’t pennies because at least you know it will be solvent in the future

I left a challenger and I was floored at how shit It was, everything from the ground up didn’t work. I’d be very hesitant about joining one, esp one that isn’t on the stock exchange and or who’s share price is in the loo.

my experience at the giants was far far superior to at the challenger