Spring intern Review

Very much; the week was busy and well organised, and designed to give as full an insight into PCP + Barclaycard as possible

Well; the organisers knew our names and were friendly + chatty. Questions were taken seriously and answered with care. Full time employees were happy to speak with the interns

Sufficient amount; the organisers were always on hand to answer queries, and were contactable via mobile and email out of hours. There were no cases where interns were lost or confused

Not hugely; the week was designed to broadly ntroduce the operations within personal and corporate banking. There was not a great deal of technical teaching (which would have been welcome and useful).

Very well structured; schedule was busy and strict, but could perhaps have been more varied

Great; the organisers were friendly and enthusiastic and there is a big push for cooperation between interns. Many interns became good friends during the week, as the atmosphere is not too competitive

Not quite enough; the week would have been more insightful had there been a stronger focus on technical, hands on teaching. There was a large variety of introductory talks on the sector in question (eg. corporate banking, barclaycard etc) and also opportunities for questions, but a deeper, longer session on technical proceedings would have been more beneficial

quite well; work shadowing sessions were implemented in which we could ask questions about their day to day schedule and aims. These were useful, although it felt like the participants were taking time out of their normal proceedings to cater for us. Therefore very few of us actually got to watch them at work (eg going to meetings, responding to clients etc)

A lot; a large emphasis was placed on the implementation of Barclay's values and aims. Most talks attended to this matter by referring directly to how the core values affected their angle of approach to tasks. Also, being present in the company head office was useful in observing how the employees acted, and work shadowing sessions helped us see how employees interacted in day to day situations

Valuable; information was provided for all aspects of the private and corporate bank at Barclays, and also its Barclaycard business. Although it was a fairly broad insight, it was still possible to form an impression of the roles that are on offer, and the work shadowing gave a good insight into daily proceedings. Therefore the week was useful in presenting the fundamental requirements and proceedings within the roles.

£250 for the week. Other interns were able to have travel to/from university paid for on top of this. Accommodation was also provided for students living >1.5 hours from the office. The accommodation was located in Stratford, 4 tube stops from Canary wharf, and it was useful living with other interns. The £250 more than covers the weekly cost, and acts instead as a bonus payment for completing the week.

Yes; there was a networking event held one evening. We were given our own 'business cards' which we could give to employees with whom we got on well, and could therefore remain in touch with should we need to. The work shadowing scheme also allowed a few hours of 1 to 1 interaction with an employee, and so it was possible to obtain contact information here too.

Good; the evening network session was very busy and well attended, and all employees were happy to speak to the interns. The atmosphere did feel a little forced, however, as the event was labelled a 'networking event', so the conversations were often contrived and fake. However it was generally the case that the employees were sufficiently friendly that the conversation did not have to be formal and corporate.

During the 'speed chat' sessions with graduate employees, we could find out about their life outside of work. We were given an overview of post-working hours activities (bar nights etc), and the employees were happy to answer any more personal questions that we asked (such as details into Barclays social life and management).

Yes; as long as they were focusing on a career in personal and corporate banking, the week is very useful in providing a comprehensive overview of the PCP + B functions within Barclays. However, this is not an appropriate week for those seeking technical knowledge into the operations of banking; the talks tend to outline aims and dealings rather than the required skills and knowledge for the role