I believe my biggest strength is my attention to detail and I'm organized. I worked for one of the biggest bank in the Philippines, Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation, I was under the lending department with the Small and Medium Enterprises team, we cater to small and middle business owners. I handle at around 20-30 clients and each client have a number of loans. It may be just a 1 kind of loan or a mix of various kinds. My main duty is to assist the Relationship Manager, s/he does the approvals for clients to loan and as soon as that gets approve, my duties is to prepare client for loan availments.
When a client is ready to loan I am to prepare the loan using the the bank's application which we call 'workflow', enter data for the loan, double check the documents submitted, attached these documents electronically and submit these to a different department who processes the loan. While the workflow is in the works, a constant communication with the client to update the loan if there are lacking documents, we communicate with them via phone and e-mail. When everything is done, there's a unique loan number after every processed loan and these loan numbers, the start date and maturity of each loan, loan amount, interest due and partial payments if there is, and lastly the terms of each loan is there too to guide me - all of these data I keep track using an MS Excel. Everyday, I check this MS Excel file to check if there are payment dues or any payments needed. I used again a different form in the workflow to prepare any payment dues and also checked their account using the Finacle, an application used by the bank to check if their account to be debited is funded. I also use this file (MS Excel) to e-mail the client of their Statement of Account at the end of the month. Proper documentation post loan is also a very important because we also get audited every now and then, I make sure all documents received and submitted are properly documented whether its online or hard copies.
As I stated earlier, we offer not just 1 kind of loan but a number of various loans in the bank with various terms in very kind of loan. It is very technical hence it took me a while to learn all of these since I entered as newbie and zero knowledge in loans. But I never gave up, took a few hiccups along the way, a few trial and error and a lot of asking in all departments or people that can help me understand the terms and the process. It took a while and it was a little hard since its technical but after a few months I mastered it and became a Senior Marketing Assistant. Some other task that my bosses gives me is to train newbies, teach them the basic and the terms. Mostly I am given reports to compile in all our clients in our center, that's more or less 300 clients in total, reports includes their outstanding loans, and documents and other crucial details regarding the loan.
Attention to detail and organization is a must in our work because we worked with numbers, documents and most especially money. A small mistake or a missed interest due or a maturity date can cause penalty or charges to the bank and the client. An angry boss and a client will be the result of that too. Two things I don't like happening. Making sure that you sent out a list of complete documents to be submitted to the client, making sure all documents are filled out properly and submitted on time is very important. I also have a tab in my MS Excel where the documents submitted and documented and are due to submissions are also there, this way both the client and I will be prepared if an audit comes up or if they want to use their line / loan in the future. Being proactive as I always am gets me ahead of any situation and will make my work easy and my boss and most especially our client happy and satisfied.
Being a friendly face but setting a clear rule with clients is also a plus in my line of work. I make sure that I keep my word when I say I'll get back to them and update them, whether its good news or a bad one, simple gesture but means a lot to them. In my experience these gesture is a way to building a relationship with them that can also be beneficial for me when I need something from them too, having them submit documents and paying their dues on time is a breeze.
I'm not always confident if I can get it right the first time but I'm sure is a hard worker and not a quitter.
