Summer Technology Analyst Review

I have enjoyed my internship as I have been exposed to a lot of different areas within the bank, and have the opportunity to network and meet a lot of interesting. However, my enjoyment was limited as I did not have enough work to do and spent most of my time doing busy work.

I was fortunate to be placed within a team that was very helpful and was willing to go out of their way to welcome me and make me feel comfortable. I have never once felt afraid to approach anyone with suggestions or questions.

The support and guidance system has been fantastic during my time here. Not only did I receive guidance from my direct supervisor, but I was also given a mentor who was completely separate to my team, and a graduate buddy. On top of this, the graduate resourcing team was available whenever I had any queries.

I was not kept very busy. Although I did have real work which had a contribution (albeit small) to my teams efforts. However, I felt that the work I was assigned would have worked better on top of other pieces of work. It would have been nice to have been given a personal project that I could completely own as this would have kept me busier.

As mentioned I was given tasks that did have an impact on the teams effort, so there was a fair amount of responsibility given to me. This however, was only limited to the small tasks I was given.

One thing that has made the internship really enjoyable for me has been how encouraging everyone is for me to network. In this sense, going forward I feel my soft skills will be greatly improved. I have also become better at resource and people management, and have picked up new skills related to time management and planning. The training I have received has allowed me to become better at picking up and becoming comfortable with new tools much quicker.

My team and the surrounding teams really found a good balance between work and play. Even though people worked really hard, they still found time to share laughs with each other. This meant the atmosphere of the office was a lot more relaxed, which made it easy to work in. The office also has a very friendly feel to it, and I have not been afraid to strike up conversations with colleagues outside of my own team.

Overall, the internship was very well organised, but it had moments in the early stages where there were slight hitches (e.g. mix-ups in booked rooms for training sessions, training lead arriving late). However, these hitches were only limited to the first ~2 weeks of the internship. The organisation throughout the rest of the internship has been good.

Barclays provides a set of mandatory training that needs to be completed by all employees. On top of this, there are additional optional training sessions that can be undertaken, and there are also learning sessions in different areas in the bank (e.g. Agile development) which are regularly held. Training and chances for personal development are readily available should one wish to look for the opportunities.

Based purely on the culture and environment within Barclays, I would enjoy working here in the future. With the addition of teams within the bank working on really exciting and innovative ideas, I feel that this organisation would be a very appealing place to work in.

All other interns were very friendly and I managed to. The vibe among interns is a lot like an extended period of freshers week; it's very easy to strike up a conversation with any other intern. Socialising was at times limited to what business area interns worked in (e.g. Traders stick with traders, HR with HR), but there were always chances to mix with people from other areas.

I stayed at home over the period of the internship. This consisted of ~1 hour commute to and from work, and travel was £150-£160 for a monthly travelcard. Socialising anywhere in London is very expensive, with drinks always setting you back the most. However, your salary is enough to cover the costs of socialising, and even living in London should you choose to do so.

There are a LOT of options for nightlife in Canary Wharf, and also surrounding areas (Shoreditch, Central London, Brixton etc).

Similarly to training, opportunities for activities outside of work were available if you looked for them. There are a lot of different clubs available to join, such as rugby or football.