Summer Intern Review

The team in which I was placed were extremely welcoming, and made a real effort to make me feel comfortable and know what I was doing. During my time here, I reached out to many different teams from the many different businesses, and was always greeted with warmth; many senior members of staff took time to meet with me, and discuss their business area and career. The people here are extraordinarily kind and gracious. However, on my placement, the work was dull and often lacking. I spent a long period of time reading, because I simply wasn't given enough to do. The hours were good (8-6), but spending all that time doing nothing wasn't really what I had in mind

Staff from all over the bank, especially my team and line manager, were incredibly caring and kind. They took me out for drinks several times, and always were willing to spend time explaining things to me if need be. HR was also very supportive, as were pretty much any member of staff I reached out to. Fantastic culture of caring people

I was given great support and guidance, but generally only if I asked for it. When I didn't have tasks to do, or when I had completed tasks, there wasn't much by way of guidance or support. It is entirely at the discretion of your line manger how much work you get, which means wide variation from intern to intern. In my case, a large part of my time was just spent trawling through the FT, because there simply wasn't anything for me to do

It varied day to day; generally, not so busy. A few days were spent working furiously from 8.30 until 7, but these were absolutely the exception. Mostly, rather un-busy indeed

Although I was not given that much to do, when I was given tasks, I had ownership of them. I would liaise with members of staff from across the world, on my own, and put together pieces of work completely individually. This was great, as it developed key skills in collaborative work and just general project delivery.

This is a massive organisation, with thousands of staff members who do different things in different ways. There is always scope to learn about various businesses and processes here (even if it is what not to do, as much as what to do). However, most of my learning was self-directed - there was nothing, pretty much, by way of training provided (for my placement).

Relaxed and friendly. Everybody was always on hand to help or answer questions, but also happy to let me get on with it if I needed to. No one was ever breathing down my neck about what time I came in or left, or how long my lunch break was. In return for the respect for my independence, I respected my time commitments and ensured I was punctual. However, for me, the work atmosphere was far too slow. I am a very driven person, and I like to work intensely and be in a hard-working, fast-paced environment which, in the Corporate bank, just isn't there. It's an incredibly slow pace of work - which might suit some - but didn't suit me.

I don't think the organisation was fantastic. There were many interns who didn't get set up with a computer for over a week, which means essentially that that entire time frame cannot be used for productive work. The training they gave us is the first two days was also extremely flowery, not really relevant, and not especially helpful. Having said that, HR did organise frequent lunchtime talks to the interns by business leaders from within the Bank, which was definitely a valuable experience. On the whole, however, it seemed a little disorganised

I think that the firm invested in me primarily by inculcating a culture that supports young talent. Everybody I approached, from the Investment Bank through to the Private Bank, was happy to take half an hour for a coffee with an intern, and discuss what they did and whether that was a good fit for you in the long term. The projects they gave us were, although perhaps scarce, self-owned, which definitely develops good working skills. Other than this, the firm did organise for several high-ranking staff members, including the CEO, to address the interns, which was a really valuable part of getting to know the industry and the firm. In terms of formal training, I think that the investment on this side was pretty low - perhaps this can be improved in future

This depends on the business area of interest. They have a huge range of divisions and job types, and it's extremely unlikely that there won't be something here that you really enjoy doing. they are very keen to get talent into the bank, so the job is more yours to lose than yours to gain.

I didn't feel that there was an especially good social scene; perhaps this is because, being such a large bank, interns tend to be divided by division, and don't really see or interact with each other in the work environment outside of these divisions. Perhaps, in future, more intern-wide events could be organised by HR

Barclays is in Canary Wharf, in London; one of the most expensive areas in one of the most expensive cities. It isn't bad, and it is a nice environment in which to work, but it isn't cheap. However, if you are sensible, it is definitely affordable on the intern salary

Great - there are loads of bars in Canary Wharf, stacked with people working in similar jobs to you. Fairly decently priced, if you're careful, and frequent events on if you're interested. If not, obviously central London is right next door, and, well, see Samuel Johnson.

There were surprisingly few. There was a single day of charity work, which was really just brainstorming ideas to help charities, but this was in the office. There is a start-up incubator run by Barclays, which we were encouraged to visit, but they didn't seem particularity welcoming or happy to see interns show up for a tour.