Barclays/Group Functions Review

I was pleasantly surprised by the Spring Week. I thought that I would be in a place that that was cut-throat, strict and hostile, since that is the normal perception people have of banks. But Barclays is such a welcoming environment and everyone is so nice, it was super interactive and we were given so much to do.

I felt really valued once I saw Managing Directors of departments taking the time out of their day to come talk or network with us. It showed that Barclays is a place that values early careers and really wants us to be a part of their company. Their willingness to answer any questions that we had was reassuring since it showed that they were genuinely interested in what we had to say and were eager to ensure that we knew as much as possible.

In this Spring Week there was a good balance between the company giving us guidance whilst also making sure that we were independent in other aspects of our work. We were given great support in our work sessions and introduction into various functions, whilst also having time to independently work on group projects and have the opportunity to network with Graduates and Staff.

There is not much that is directly applicable to my degree but I think that I have developed transferable skills that will help me with life in general. This Spring Week has taught me to be confident enough to voice my own opinions and ask questions. I think that this will help me with networking events in the future and when I start my career, since it is important to be comfortable with yourself so that you are able to confidently speak with various people that you meet.

The Spring Week was structured really well, I like how we were given our agenda on the Events App before we came so that we could have direct access to what was going to happen in the Spring Week and have time to prepare before we came. At the insight, we always stuck to schedule, even if the talks ran over we still managed to end up sticking to the overall schedule. There was never a time where I was unsure what we were doing, we were regularly updated and given guidance on what to do.

The culture at Barclays is the best I have ever seen, the people here are genuinely nice and caring, it was so refreshing to see. It is the culture that makes we want to have a summer internship at Barclays, even in places that are supposedly stressful such as Risk or the trading floor, the atmosphere seemed so relaxed and informal compared to other banks. It is an atmosphere that matches my personality, and I think that it is obvious that Barclays is an organisation that closely stick by their values, they have now been ingrained in my memory!

As this was only 5 days, there was not much they could do. However, on the first day they had many sessions on improving our skills, and we were even given the opportunity to fill out a strengths interview which revealed a lot about myself. I realised that I am someone who is not good at 'narrating', which means I tend to not tell stories or speak out. I made sure that I used every opportunity to try and speak publicly during the Spring Week, and I feel as if this really improved my communication skills.

I think it did to a certain extent in terms of hours spent within the office since we were here from half 8 till 6 every day. But we were not really immersed into the inner workings of the firm, however, since this is a Spring Week I was not expecting this. I thought that we would have more time to work full time in the Summer Internship.

It helped soooooo much! It was really obvious seeing the valued of Barclays embedded into the activity within the bank, they're now ingrained into my memory. I think seeing the culture of the bank made me realise that it is somewhere I would really fit in since the people seemed to be a lot like me.

Very helpful! Having an overview of every function really changed my mind on what I wanted to do in a summer internship. I came here wanting to do Risk or Compliance, after having talks on everything I realised that Marketing was the function that really matched my personality and skill set. I would not have realised this if the content of the Insight was any different.

We are paid £250 for the week and reimbursed 2/5 of our travel (I think). If you need to have accommodation, Barclays will give it to you for free. Within the accommodation you are staying with other people on the Spring Week, which I think is great since it is the perfect way to make friends with other people attending the Spring Week. I wish I went!

Yes, I'd say we had opportunities to do this everyday. We were constantly meeting employees during the sessions and work shadowing, we had scheduled network events in order to talk to senior employees and those on the Graduate programme. This was great since it gave us a further insight into the structure of the graduate programme and what career progression was like at Barclays.

It was an invaluable experience I would say since you were given the opportunity to meet people and talk to them on a deeper level. The networking events made me realise that the workers at Barclays are genuine people, who would be more than happy to let you know more about their job or answer any questions that you have.

Yes, there was a session on Monday where we were given the opportunity to look at the networks within Barclays, which are basically the bank's version of student societies. Barclays is also an organisation that encourages their workers to give back to the community, it was interesting finding out more about this.

Yes! Even if you are unsure about whether to go into banking, I'd say still apply since the Spring Week is so informative, and one of the best ways to truly find out whether a bank is the right fit for you. Even if you decide that maybe Barclays/banking is not for you, it is still a great learning experience and you meet such wonderful people along the way.