Spring Intern Review

The Barclays Front Office Spring Week was a well planned programme, and I really enjoyed my time there. Perhaps the greatest thing offered was the Barclays App which I really found was a great way of connecting with fellow Spring Week-ers before the official programme. The App also held the agenda for the week which was a great way for us to plan ahead and come prepared each day for the sessions HR and the Campus Recruitment Team had in place for us.

As it is only a one week programme, our time at Barclays is short. However I felt welcomed throughout the whole programme. Particularly with the Markets Work-shadowing, I felt comfortable asking basic questions and really appreciated the time and effort the employees of Barclays gave in helping me understand their role and jobs.

As mentioned, the insight programme was really well structured. The pace was good, I didn’t feel rushed in any of the sessions, and there was a good amount of time after each ‘division introduction’ to ask questions. The number of interactive sessions was also great, and I felt that we had a lot of opportunities to meet not only employees at the firm, but fellow students through group work and socials.

The atmosphere on the spring week was inviting. We were told up front that we were being assessed throughout the whole week, but through the talks, activities, and informal lunch networking sessions held at the bank, I did not feel intimidated at all and that allowed me to enjoy the week to the max. I was able to ask all the questions I wanted to, and felt engaged throughout the whole week.

Barclays was very informative in showing us all around Front Office, and the opportunities available. The Networking Expo. held also allowed us to glimpse some of the charitable works and diversity groups within the firm (e.g. Spectrum). The employees I spoke to were also frank about what their daily routines were at the firm, and I felt that I gained invaluable insights from the conversations held.

In terms of culture, Barclays were very up front about the values they wanted their employees to have, and everyone I spoke to demonstrated them. That really proved to me how important and ingrained they are in the company. As many of the values are ones that I hold myself, it was a good opportunity to demonstrate my understanding of them during my exit interview too.

The whole week was extremely informative. The programme touched upon all the available divisions in Front Office which, whilst brief, was enough for myself at least to decide which areas I was more interested in, and also what area my skill set would be best suited to. By the end of the week, I had a clear idea on whether I preferred Markets over Investment Banking, and I could not have done it without going through the whole programme.

There were several networking opportunities and I think it was one of the best ways of allowing us to really engage and see for ourselves what a career at Barclays is like. All employees that I spoke to were accommodating and I was able to meet a few for coffee/lunch to further learn more about their career path and time at the firm.

The networking opportunities occurred in the evening as well as over lunch throughout the week. The networking sessions were a great way to meet employees across Front Office at all levels of seniority which was a great way of seeing how a career in Barclays could progress. The people I met were all extremely helpful and accommodating in answering my questions.

Yes I would. I think this programme was extremely well structured, it answered all the questions I had in my head at the start of the week, and at the end of the day it was a comprehensive week which really helped me learn more not only about Barclays, but about myself and my interests within banking.