Insight week Review

Incredibly insightful. There were many talks on the various functions of the group (Compliance, Risk, Treasury, HR, Marketing, Finance and Internal Audit) and group activities we undertook to help us better understand the areas of business. We sometimes ran over time so this meant shorter breaks and I felt this could have been improved by keeping to time. Other than that, it was quite enjoyable and an eye- opening experience.

Senior employees were all very friendly and very willingly answered our questions. They were also all keen on giving us tips for our future careers, even if they weren't with Barclays. Barclays put all the interns up at a 4 star service apartments, in addition to paying for my train tickets, breakfast and lunch. I also got £250 weekly allowance. I felt the fact they were willing to spend so much on us meant they really do seriously consider us potential employees and really value what we could bring.

We had two work shadowing experiences on two areas of our choice. I did HR and Marketing and I was able to meet graduates in those functions. They talked to me about the nature of the role and even showed me some of the stuff they did, which was quite interesting. During group activities, we were also supervised by the senior employees and they offered suggestions to us which was quite helpful.

I would say the soft skills gained were very useful. Aside from speaking in front of groups, I also learned skills in networking (proffering your hand for a handshake etc.) which i wouldn't have otherwise gained. I also received advice on choosing a career (do something you want) along with recruitment tips.

As I said, we sometimes ran over time so that left us with shorter breaks. In addition, the first day was very tiring (8am to 8pm) since we had to arrive early for registration and leave late because there was a networking event. I felt they could have tried to arrange the networking event so it could have ended earlier (maybe at 6?). It wasn't just me who felt tired; most of the other interns I talked to also said they felt it ended too late. On the other days, we ended at 6pm which I personally felt was a too late but I Guess it's a good experience to see what it's like being at Barclays during a standard work day (9-6)

It was quite enjoyable. But kind of formal as well. When we asked questions, we were advised that it's best to stand up, say your name and degree, and then ask whatever question you have. Also, the networking event was formal as well (to me at least): You had to shake someone's hand and introduce yourself. Well, it's like a formal network event so obviously you need to behave a certain way, which I found quite useful as I have not been exposed to these before.

Through the work shadowing, I was given in depth insight into what Barclays employees do and I felt that they did so because they really see you as someone that will potentially come into the business in the future so they arranged for us to get a behind the scenes look. They also arranged a few networking sessions (graduates and senior employees like managing directors and Vice Presidents) and the fact they did so really told me how much Barclays values the spring interns in that the senior employees were willing to come down and talk to us.

We spoke to many graduates on the graduate Programme and even had a graduate panel so I really gained a lot of information on the rotations graduates experience, the working culture and guidance Barclays employees receive.

I got a lot of insight into the company. For example, Most people I spoke to said there is a very friendly atmosphere at Barclays and everyone will listen to each other, regardless of whether you are a graduate or managing director.

Very valuable. The senior speakers shared with us their background and life stories and gave us advice on how one should choose a career based on what you really want rather than the title. During the talks on the divisions of Barclays, I got to see what working in that division would be like and really helped reaffirmed my career choices

Paid £250 for the week (allowance). Accommodation provided at a 4 star services apartment. Breakfast and lunch provided at their canteen

Yes, many opportunities which I explained earlier on

Most were alright and insightful. Only gripe I have is that the first one on Monday ended too late, in my opinion.

There were some forums employees could join (Black forum, Asian forum etc) which are basically like Uni societies. They would organise talks and activities that would give insight into issues faced by Asians or LGBT community or whatever. Employees could also do some volunteering (like other banks).

Definitely yes! I was nervous before the week started but I met some really great people during the spring week and I really learned soft skills I wouldn't have gained if I hadn't gone to spring week. I would definitely recommend anyone to sign up for this insight week as it really lets you see into Barclays culture as well as the business and type of work it does.