Spring Intern Review

I enjoyed the insight week very much and it was far better than I had anticipated. What really stood out for me was the insight that I received into individuals' daily activities and roles through work shadowing and networking and this insight allowed me to make an informed decision about which area of banking I wanted to go into. I also enjoyed expanding my knowledge about banking and the sector as a whole and found the case studies to be very interesting.

Right from the very beginning of the programme I felt valued and the representatives from Barclays were very warming and helpful. Following on, most representatives were happy to help with any queries that I had and I did not feel intimidated to approach someone to ask for help and I wasn't put off asking any questions that I had.

I received an immense amount of support and as I mentioned earlier, all of the representatives that were present during sessions and presentations were happy to answer any questions that I had. Following on, the people that I networked with were very supportive and offered me advice and further information that may have been useful for me.

I believe that the skills and information that I have learnt and developed whilst on this programme will be very useful in the future. The information I received ranged from technical banking terms and techniques to information about business etiquette; all of which I believe will assist me in the future.

The insight was very well structured. Before starting, Barclays introduced us to its Double Dutch app which had a wide range of information ranging from pdf files to links to relevant TED Talks. In addition, there was also an agenda on this app where we were able to see what daily activities we would be involved in and their respective times. Following on, at the end of each day we were given a reminder of the activities that would be occurring in the next few days and and other relevant information.

The atmosphere in general was very warming and friendly. Both the representatives and candidates all seemed happy to help and get to know one another. Candidates were encouraged to change seats everyday as a means of networking and meeting new people. Overall, the atmosphere was pleasant and everyone was keen to learn and expand their knowledge.

The firm gave us the opportunity to network with a variety of different people at different stages of their career and thus we were able to learn and gain knowledge from their experiences. We were also given presentations about the bank and educated about its structure and the roles and requirements required in each division.

This insight was extremely useful in helping me to see what it would be like to have a full time role with Barclays and allowed me to decide what division I would like to go into, as before this insight, I was interested in a different division than the division I currently would like to work in. I think the networking sessions in particular were very helpful in this instance.

I found that It helped me very much and it confirmed my initial expectations of the culture at Barclays. Through presentations we were exposed to the culture at Barclays and the ways that the representatives from Barclays interacted with us added to this and helped me in understanding the culture better.

The presentations and sessions that I had were packed with a lot of useful and relevant information which helped me decide on my future career path. I believe the case studies that I was involved in were extremely useful as they had more technical content and made the information that I took from these sessions more relevant and applicable.

I have not been paid yet, but Barclays did specify that I would receive a payment.

There were a few opportunities to network and meet other employees at Barclays and I found these sessions very useful as they gave me a better insight into a career in banking and the roles and requirements involved. If I was to change the event, I would definitely add more networking and social events as I believe these would be very useful.

There was one big social event on the third day where we were able to network with employees at different stages of their careers and from all of the divisions at Barclays. I found this event really useful as it allowed me to narrow down what area of banking that I wished to go into, however I felt that time went extremely quickly and one recommendation I would make would be to make the networking events longer.

I found that it depends on what division an what part of banking determines the sorts of activities that employees can get involved in outside of work. Different divisions have different working hours for example and thus some employees may not be able to take part in activities that others would be able to. From networking, I found that many employees engage in sport activities with one particular example being dodgeball.

I would definitely recommend this insight to a friend as it was packed with an immense amount of useful, interesting and relevant information; all of which will be useful in the future. This insight allowed me to find the area of banking that I feel I am most suited to, which was a different area to what I initially was interested in.