Group Functions Spring Week Intern Review

I really enjoyed the insight and found it very helpful and informative. The employees and my fellow colleagues were extremely friendly which provided me the opportunity to see what the atmosphere at Barclays was truly like. The week went very quickly and was a fantastic experience. At the end of the week it was apparent to me that Functions was not the area for me and at times I found some of the sessions tedious. However, I enjoyed the week on the whole and met some brilliant and like-minded people.

I was made to feel very comfortable and valued during the week. The employees were lovely and approachable and we met with recent graduates and Managing Directors as well. This gave us exposure to lots of different people in varying positions within Barclays and the fact we were able to speak to MDs meant I felt as if they put a strong focus on us and our opinions. In addition, we had many networking events and were encouraged to ask employees anything we wanted whether it be a technical or more personal question.

We received a lot of support during the week from HR staff, recent graduates and MDs. We had many networking and spotlight sessions for different functions and had the chance to ask lots of questions. During our work shadowing we also received a lot of guidance and advice which was invaluable and were made to feel at home.

I don't really feel like I gained any skills to help in my academic studies as I am a mathematics student and so my degree is very technical. However, I feel as I gained life skills which will be helpful in a professional setting. The most obvious skill I failed was networking as I had not don't this properly before. I was slightly daunted by the prospect but we had a training sessions and many networking sessions and so now I feel a lot more comfortable conversing with people who I have never met before. I believe my presentation skills also improved as we had a presentation skills workshop and a subsequent task at the end of the week.

In my opinion, the insight was generally well structured but I found the layout quite exhausting. For instance we would have two two-hour spotlight sessions in a row where we were effectively talked at during this time. These sessions were more effective when interactive but it is quite tiring to just listen for four hours in a row. Many of these spotlight sessions over ran so we had hardly any breaks apart from lunch so it was difficult to regain our concentration.

The atmosphere was very friendly and optimistic but was rather draining at the end of the week due to some levels of exhaustion kicking in. I think this could be improved by the structure of the programme. Everyone was very approachable and what surprised me was that the atmosphere was not really competitive and team-work was heavily emphasised.

Barclays invested quite heavily in us as we had a lot of exposure to directors and managing directors and they took time out of their busy schedules to give us advice and explain their roles at Barclays. I found this far more beneficial than some sessions run by recent graduates as they either were a bit disorganised or not very engaging when speaking to us. However, I feel very grateful that many senior people treated us with importance and took time to speak to us.

This aspect was what I took away most heavily from the week. Before my Spring week I was unsure as to whether a bank would be a suitable environment for me as they are often portrayed as cut-throat and not a happy place to work. However, after the first day it was very clear that Barclays completed rubbished this myth. I was struck by the friendly and helpful atmosphere, where team work was so important and MDs worked very closely to recent graduates. It made me feel really optimistic about hopefully working at Barclays in future.

The culture of Barclays was the main focus of the Spring Week for me. There was a very heavy focus on the values of Barclays which all employees so clearly embody both in their professional and personal lives. The values and culture of Barclays was intertwined in everything we did and every talk we received so it was absolutely clear to us what Barclays stood for and was easy to see if we would be a good fit for the company and vice versa.

I feel that it was very helpful as it allowed me to see that working in Functions may not be for me as I want to apply a more technical mathematical experience to my future job, However, this only became clear due to the amount of content and exposure we had to different departments so I think this aspect was vital for the spring week. On the other hand, I feel like the work shadowing sessions could be improved as I wasn't really sure still about what day to day work of each department looked like. For example, I shadowed in Risk and was shown a report and asked to read it but I wasn't really sure what I was looking for or how one would properly analyse this report.

We received a payment of £250 for travel expenses in London and food etc. In addition as I travelled from my home in Manchester to the Spring Week in London I am reimbursed for my train ticket from home and back.

The networking opportunities were vast and impressive. We had a dedicated networking session one evening but also had many others during the week (almost daily) with graduates and employees from different departments. After talks and spotlight sessions we also had the chance to ask questions and networking was heavily encouraged.

They were very helpful and gave us the chance to ask many questions that we may have about different departments and Barclays as a company. We received business cards to hand out at the main networking event so we could keep in contact with employees and everyone was very friendly and approachable. The only small complaint I have is that the networking was slightly claustrophobic as there were many interns from different departments but only a small number of staff so it was difficult to have a detailed conversation with lots of people.

We were given a brief insight into volunteering opportunities that Barclays employees get involved in. However, this was just done as a quick add on at the end of a talk or if you asked an employee about these opportunities, I think it would be highly beneficial to maybe have a designated talk about volunteering opportunities/activities etc so we gain a wider knowledge about the variety of these activities and how one gets involved. I personally would have found this really helpful as I have volunteered for many years and would love to continue doing so once I start working.

Without a doubt. It was very beneficial to me as I learnt about roles at Barclays and also Barclays as a whole. The commitment and effort that was put into the Spring Week was very impressive and it wouldn't have been the same without all my fellow colleagues. Everyone was apprehensive before starting incase everyone was in the Spring week for themselves but it soon became apparent that through Barclays selection procedure no-one was like that at all. In addition, I realised that whilst working in Group Functions specifically was not for me, I would love to work at Barclays when I'm older as it is a place where everyone flourishes professionally and personally.