Sophea Rowlands

• Attention to detail: Ensuring accuracy in data entry.

My position requires me to have good attention to detail. Two of the key day to day processes that I do are called Emergency Transfers and Manual Keying. With Emergency Transfers- This is when a member might not have access to or is unable to do online banking themselves and calls Nationwide to make manual payments on their behalf for various reasons, such as to pay a Direct Debit. They request for specific amounts to be manually moved from their account to another and it is my responsibility to ensure that 1. they not only have the balance for the transfer but 2. they also haven't transferred more than £500 within 7 days, keeping within the limit to prevent member's from fraud and complying with FCA Regulations.

With Manual Keying- I need to be able to understand the information that has been given to me on an excel spreadsheet and be able to key each payment in the correct direction, either crediting or debiting an account. This process requires communicating both internally within Nationwide and externally with other financial services when critical information is missing to ensure that the payment is keyed correctly.

• Organisation and Planning: Managing diaries to make sure the day-to-day workload is completed.

There is a large amount of data that needs to be handled correctly. If one of the team is off for sickness, I need to be flexible and open to changing priorities and communicate with my team to re-organise our time to make sure that the workload is shared and completed.

• Communication: Strong verbal and written skills for handling inbound and making outbound phone calls both internally and externally and maintaining a polite, professional demeanour when communicating via email to establish relationships with members to encourage them to keep using Nationwide financial services.

• IT Proficiency: Competence in MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint).

MS Word (Document Creation): Creating, editing, and saving documents. I am responsible for managing and handling sensitive and confidential data so it is essential that I correctly save each individual document to eliminate the risk of it being sent to the wrong person or place, otherwise the consequences could be severe and damage the trust that customers place in Nationwide.

MS Excel (Spreadsheet Management): Organising data and using formulas for calculations to make the data easy to read.

MS PowerPoint (Presentation Design): Creating and formatting slideshows, creating templates and adding animations or transitions to make the content more engaging with the audience.

• Problem-Solving: Using initiative to resolve issues.

There are going to be occasions when something unexpected happens, such as a technical fault. I must be able to independently identify what the issue is and implement a solution without needing to be prompted into action by anyone. An example of when I had to do this was when Nationwide was beginning to merge with Virgin Money. They were introducing new software that crashed whilst it was being installed which meant that the team was starting to be locked out of several key systems. I'd learnt from experience that sometimes if a manual update is done on the laptop, it will automatically cancel any downloads even if it is already halfway through updating, so I suggested that the team all updated their laptops to roll it back to the old version of software while IT worked on a permanent fix.

My position as an Outbound Telesales Agent meant that I was making outbound calls to parents of children who had been eligible for the Conservative Government Child Trust Fund Scheme 2002-2011 and convincing them to either set up a direct debit if there wasn’t one already or increase their current contribution amount if there was.

There were some key skills that i developed through this position, such as;

• Objection handling and negotiation: Displayed extensive product knowledge to convince parents on the benefits of contributing or increasing to their children's trust fund to boost sales and hit KPI's.
• Multi-tasking: responding to customer emails and conducted follow-up calls to optimise sales opportunities and build strong customer relationships, driving loyalty and repeat business.

This was my first job after university and it was a great opportunity for me to start my career in the financial sector. As i was new to the world of banking, starting in the Santander branch allowed me to build upon customer service skills that I had learnt from previous retail positions at Marks and Spencers and McDonald's and develop banking skills that I use in my current position at Nationwide.

Banking Skills such as;

• Cash handling: counting and packaging currency and coins.
• Trained colleagues and management on new products and technology across branches: I visited the Oxford branch on several occasions to train colleagues on new technology that was being rolled out. One of the new tools was the option of paying in a cheque by taking a photo of it in the Santander app. By teaching the colleagues this new technological function, they were able to educate customers and open them up to options for managing financial transactions by setting up and showing them how to use online banking.
• Performing daily cash drawer reconciliation to maintain accuracy.
• Balancing the vault and ATMs, ensuring optimal cash availability.
• Collaborating with the fraud team to monitor and report suspicious transactions.
• Provided customer records on demand, including account statements.
• Assisted customers with setting up or closing accounts, completing applications and signing up for new services.
• Assisted customers with compromised debit cards and issued new credentials.
• Completed special procedures for customers such as ordering new cheques, stopping payments or investigating identity theft.
• Identified and mitigated potential fraud and transaction risks.
• Volunteered for extra shifts during holidays and other busy periods to alleviate staffing shortages.

I worked at Marks and Spencer's on my gap year between finishing sixth form and attending university. This job allowed me to gain more workplace experience.

Some of the tasks i performed were;

• Assisting with food and drink orders
• Operated cooking equipment while adhering to safety standards
• Maintained cleanliness in food preparation areas and serving counters.
• Stocked shelves regularly for easy access to products by customers.
• Managed high-pressure situations with ease, ensuring customer satisfaction during peak hours.
• Provided excellent customer service to ensure repeat business.
• Monitored inventory levels routinely to avoid stock-outs or overstocking issues.
• Operated till systems smoothly, streamlining check-out process for customers.
• Assisted in visual merchandising efforts, enhancing store appearance and attracting footfall.
• Handled cash and card payments with accuracy.
• Opened and closed the cafe by myself safely and efficiently

I worked at McDonald's alongside my studies to start gaining some work experience.

Summary of skills learnt;

• Assisted with cash handling in a timely manner.
• Maintained cleanliness and sanitation standards in work area.
• Consistently arrived at work on time and ready to start immediately.
• Worked flexible hours, covering nights, weekends and bank holidays.
• Offered friendly, efficient customer service and handled challenging situations with ease.
• Displayed energy and enthusiasm in fast-paced environment.
• Completed customer orders with speed and accuracy.