On track to 2012- becoming UK#s best retail bank

Since the takeover of HBOS in 2010 Lloyd's Banking Group is playing its part in building deep and enduring customer relationship. I have had some incredible exposure while experiencing the UK's biggest integration process within the retail banking. I have certainly been very fortunate to have the opportunity to look at the bigger picture such as how teams across the retail are fixing the issues which cause customer complaints at Lloyds Banking Group. It's very straightforward that either you fix it or you loose it.

So, one of the key learning for me is the focus on complaints.It's an amazing experience to understand the causes of complaints and the various steps in place within the Lloyds banking group to resolve those complaints.
The mis-selling of payment protection insurance (PPI) is a huge burden for high street banks, and could potentially cost the large Scottish institutions – Lloyds Banking Group and RBS – hundreds of millions of pounds. The one plus, however, is that it's also creating jobs.

Lloyds is estimating that paying back PPI could eventually cost it £3.2bn, while RBS has already set aside £850m for any potential redress. In the long run, this could prove so costly that the banks could be forced to make yet more cuts, but in the short term, it's providing lots of jobs.

It's also requiring new investment in IT systems to deal with the volume of complaints – up to 7,000 a week in some firms, according to a report in the Times.

Banks are said to be doubling, or even tripling, the number of staff handling complaints and are so hard pushed to find sufficient supplies of candidates that they're considering outsourcing the work. However, according the Times, the issues surrounding PPI are too complex to be resolved by a third-party so external recruitment seems the most likely option.

In Scotland, perhaps predictably, these roles are predominantly on a temporary basis. However, unlike the recent raft of contract work north of the border, these positions are being classified as temp, and being paid on an hourly basis.

Recruiters dealing with these roles declined to be named, but suggest that a senior complaints handler can expect £15-20 an hour, while more junior roles pay £9-14, depending on experience.

Despite the fact that RBS and Lloyds are headquartered in Scotland, these roles are being spread across the UK. Both banks have live roles in Edinburgh and Glasgow, but they're also hiring in Leicester, Southampton, Bristol, Northampton and Chatham, should a move appeal.

You should expect, however, a pressurised, target driven environment where you'll be expected to deal with a high volume of (potentially irate) customers and maintain a sunny disposition at all times.

When life gives you a lemon, make lemonade

An important question regarding how many people have considered work experience as valuable or worthwhile after graduating?

At the moment the possible exploitation of interns has been something that I have been worried about for a while. In order to gain useful work experience in a particular field, work experience in that sector is generally a necessity. Thus, unpaid internships as a result are almost a necessity to get in to some sectors.
Most of the internships seem to be focused around London and are unpaid.

Travel expenses are very expensive and many of us can't seriously afford to spend that money. Taking on an internship for 5months or a year can be very rewarding and provide great experience. But you can gain equally as many good skills from vetted shorter work experience placements. We hope that it will help improve social mobility as not all of us do have a large amount of money to fall back on to get that desperately needed work experience.

You've probably heard all the scaremongering about CVs at the bottom of a recruiter's haphazard (and completely random) pile being dismissed or worse, binned before being looked at, but the truth of the matter is that it is difficult to get noticed when portraying yourself on paper alone. Face-to-face contact, a positive demeanour and the willingness to go beyond the job's description will help you stand out. Since, two employers I met through temping offered me permanent work, but the roles just weren't for me. So back to temping it is, and the hope that this could help me land a job I truly find satisfying. After all, out of small acorns, great oaks grow.