Spring Intern Review

I really enjoyed the Spring Week at Barclays. Firstly, the employees at Barclays were extremely friendly irregardless of their position or seniority. They were patient and answered all of our questions in a helpful and insightful manner. Secondly, the workshops conducted helped developed skills such as leadership and public speaking within me. Workshops such as the CAPP Strength Profiler gave me a different approach in learning how to improve myself. Finally, my fellow Spring Weekers were a delight to be with, and really made the whole experience that much more enjoyable.

I felt like I could simply walk up or reach out to anyone in Barclays to ask questions during my time in Spring Week, since the employees were extremely friendly and open to questions. I really appreciated how they took time off their busy work schedules to come down to talk to us, even during their lunch breaks. Any requests from me were settled promptly and swiftly by the Barclays Recruitment Team, and their help and advice has been invaluable throughout this Spring Week programme.

We had a series of talks regarding the various divisions both in the Banking and Markets sectors. The Questions and Answers section at the end was also sufficient for many of us to ask more questions. Apart from the various talks and overviews of each individual division, we also had a trading floor tour and markets work-shadowing. During this time, I learnt a lot from the traders and structurers at the trading floor. They were patient and were not afraid to go into detail regarding their work.

I developed skills such as followership and speaking skills, which are skills which will prove to be useful again and again throughout my life. The information I received was of great help in deciding which division I wanted to apply for and which career would suit me best.

The Spring Week programme was divided clearly into days which focused on Banking and days which focused on Markets. This allowed people to clearly know in advance what kind of programmes to expect. We had the schedule given out on the first day, and we always knew what programmes were currently happening as it would be displayed on a screen in front.

The general atmosphere was friendly and exciting. Everyone was all smiles and open to questions or simply conversation. I felt excited when I was allowed onto the trading floor as it was where a lot of action could be happening.

Barclays provided multiple workshops, including leadership, strengths assessment and public speaking workshops. These workshops represented much investment in our skills and helped me greatly.

Apart from actually participating in a summer internship programme, this Spring Week could not have been better at helping me understand the different roles and how it would be working in an investment bank.

Talking to the various employees, from analysts to directors, gave me great insight into the company culture of openness and friendliness. Also, there was a clear desire to move forward with honest and direct conversations within the company, which I feel is very important.

The Spring Week cemented my decision to join an investment bank as I found that the career was close to what I had expected through reading about it online.

Apart from reimbursing travel expenses to and from London, Barclays also paid a small sum to cover any expenses we spent on food and networking.

There were loads of opportunities. On the first day there was a networking expo with almost 30 senior employees from different desks. Every day there was networking lunch where employees came down to join us for a quick chat over lunch. Then there was also work-shadowing which you could ask intimate questions regarding how the job was truly like.

They were excellent due to the open and friendly nature of the employees.

There was an expo with the various initiatives set up by Barclays employees in differing areas. The activities were interesting and I believe are a step in the right direction.

Yes, I would.