Rupinder McCallum

I joined HSBC as a Customer Service Advisor in early 2023 after working 20+ years in other companies including at management level, so moving to HSBC was quite a big career change for me. I had just got married and decided that I wanted a job that was local to home and would give me a better work-life balance, one that also paid well and provided good benefits too. This role more than meets those requirements and I’ve also been surprised at how quickly opportunities to progress have come along – within six months I took on a role of Peer Leader which means I now help to cover for team managers as and when needed.

From day one, I’ve had lots of support from senior colleagues, and I find that you can reach out to anyone here who will wholeheartedly help you to achieve your goals. When I first started, I was on an eight-week training programme with other new customer service advisors and since then we have had regular refresher training so we’ve been continuously learning and upskilling.

The role is hybrid, so I spend part of my time in the office and part of my time working from home. I do prefer being in the office, though, and I think that’s because I’ve been front-facing with customers one-on-one for 20 years and I like being around people. Regardless of whether you’re having a good or bad day when you’re in the office you can always bounce off the people around you, whereas at home I can only talk to my cats, and they just look blankly at me! It’s just not the same.

There’s a real buzz in the office too – it can be very busy and noisy with a lot of people on the phones but it’s a very friendly, warm environment and I like that. There’s a truly diverse team here and I think that surprised me, but I do enjoy working with a real mix of people from all types of backgrounds who have different experiences and capabilities.

I certainly think it’s a people-first culture here and HSBC look after you so well. After all, happy people means happy customers and that’s what the role is about, helping our customers and ensuring they end the phone call happy that you’ve helped them.