Barclays PCB & Barclaycard Spring Week Review

It was the PCB&B Insight week 2016. I really enjoyed the insight - I got to know much more about the sector, the division and the company. I learnt a lot as they tended to start with basic information and gradually got harder. Everyone was friendly in Barclays and I'm glad it was welcoming.

I felt valued as everyone was treated with respect and integrity. We were given badges to make us feel a part of Barclays and we got trusted around the building.

We got given some support during the week, depending on what we were doing or the task we were completing, For the group work, we got given barely any support but that was the aim; we had to work in a team to produce results. We were always given a clear outline of what we were doing and how we were doing it. We could ask questions when we wanted, in case we needed to know something or didn't understand something.

I believe I gained valuable skills in communication and teamwork. During the week we had to talk to colleagues, senior members and other people. This improved the way in which I communicate to different people. Also, teamwork was a skill in which I improved as having to work independently and within a team proved somewhat challenging as everyone had many different ideas.

I believe it was well structured, especially if it was the first PCB&B spring week. The organisers had an outline of what we were doing everyday and made sure the app was updated to keep us informed.

The atmosphere was great during the insight week. Everyone spoke to eachother and got to know everyone. It was good that everyday we worked with may different people.

The company didn't really train me in the spring insight as I was only getting to know the company and some of the divisions. Therefore, I do not believe it was necessary to train me at this stage. The company gave us all a chance to ask any questions to any speakers or people who came to present to us.

As the PCB&B division is very broad, with aspects of personal banking, corporate banking, wealth management and Barclaycard, it was useful to get insight into all of the divisions. Also, the work shadowing helped me to understand what like at Barclay's is like on a day-to-day basis. I enjoyed the work shadowing as I learnt a lot about global corporate banking and also Barclaycard.

The insight helped me to understand the culture. Going to different floors and seeing how they operate made me feel like different departments in the business have different cultures, especially the Barclaycard department, which seems to be more relaxed and informal. The networking event helped me to know what people from all around Barclays do.

The content in the day was engaging and having different speakers from different departments was helpful in deciding what I liked and disliked and what I could see myself doing in the future. Also, talking to members what already work at Barclays during the networking and work shadowing was useful as I got to ask them what I wanted.

Yes we will be reimbursed expenses for the week. This will be £250 for the entire week. We will also be reimbursed travel expenses from uni to our home location and also from our home location back to our university. This was good as people were travelling from far away.

Yes. On Wednesday evening from 6-8:30pm, there was an opportunity to network with existing staff at Barclays and also other spring interns. This was useful as getting to as many questions to the divisions I was interested in helped me to understand how different people got to where they are today. Also, on Thursday, work shadowing helped me to understand how people's lives operate on a day to day basis.

The networking opportunities were useful in my opinion. Getting to speak to people we wanted to helped me as we could ask any questions we wanted. However, there were a lot of interns in comparison to people who worked at Barclays. Therefore, I didn't get to speak to as many people as I wanted.

Yes there are many activities that employees can get involved in. For one, volunteering is a big part of Barclays and they like to give back to the community when they can. Also projects such as Digital Eagles was interesting as they are going out into schools helping children with topics such as coding. This is an important issue.

Yes, I would recommend this insight to a friend as I learnt a lot in one week; I never thought I would. Also, the people are Barclays are very warm and welcoming and help you to understand things from a basic level. This is what you need when you are not an expert in that specific field of study.