Nicky Wright, branch manager

Building society branch manager

Answers supplied by Nicky Wright, branch manager at Norwich & Peterborough Building Society's Plumstead Road branch. Norwich & Peterborough has over 50 branches in East Anglia and more than 900 staff offering a wide range of financial services including mortgages, savings, equity-linked investments, sharedealings and insurances.

What does the job entail?
You are responsible for the running of the branch in every respect which means delivering excellent customer service, achieving product sales targets, training and coaching staff, recruiting staff and maintaining the branch's compliance with the regulations of the Financial Services Authority, the industry watchdog.

What skills and qualifications are needed?
Experience in customer service is essential along with excellent interpersonal skills. Five GCSEs at A-C grade or the equivalent are required and you also need to achieve the industry qualifications called Certificates of Mortgage Advice & Practice (CeMAP) 1, 2 and 3. If you are currently working towards these qualifications it may be a requirement that you pass within six months of being appointed as a branch manager. Full training is usually provided within the branch and on training courses.

What type of person will fit in?
You will need to be confident, outgoing, organised, motivated and enthusiastic. You will also need to be good at managing people and keen to help customers with their individual needs.

What are the pluses and minuses of the job?
On the plus side there are excellent training opportunities and branch managers often work together within the local area and meet and support each other to achieve objectives and goals. However the varied nature of the job means it is quite complex and there is a great deal to learn and keep up to date with.

What opportunities exist for career progression?
Most building societies like to promote from within so there are always opportunities to progress, in fact branch managers often begin their careers as customer advisers and work their way up. From a branch manager you could go on to become a retail sales manager looking after several branches or choose to specialise in a certain field such as mortgages.

What can I expect to earn?
Salaries for branch managers range from £16,950 to £29,430.

Any hints on getting a job in this area?
The best idea is to look through the job section in local papers each week for details of vacancies and you could also start to study for the CeMAP examinations. Any experience you have already gained or can gain in a customer service role would be valuable.