Equity Research Summer Analyst Review

Very enjoyable internship- great atmosphere in the department, all senior staff willing to meet with interns and help in any way they can. Interesting range of tasks (assisting in earnings season, more long-term thematic work, meeting company management) and given real responsibility/ownership of tasks.

Any work was always appreciated and welcomed by the team I was working with. My team in particular was especially welcoming- team breakfasts and lunches several times.

Mid-term and final appraisals helped provide overview of how the internship was going. My manager was always willing to explain tasks and other team members were similarly helpful and supportive both with desk work and assisting in the broader programme of activities during the summer. Senior management were also supportive- attended intern stock pitches, conscious of workload.

In a normal week the hours were 06:45 to 18:45. However, in the final few weeks of the internship the work load increased considerably; there were several weekends where it was necessary to come to the office (for intern projects such as stock pitches and personal mock reports), but rarely an excessive amount of desk work. In the busiest week the hours were 06:45 until 20:30 every weekday and some weekend work (a couple of hours) to finalise projects before leaving. The work is very interesting so working long hours is not necessarily an issue.

Quite a significant amount of responsibility- running valuation sheets, creating a database, updating company models, assisting on conference calls.

Skills learnt during this internship are invaluable. Working in such a pressured environment improves deadline management and will make any degree look easy by comparison. Using financial software such as Reuters or Bloomberg is also useful- the firm really invests in expensive software access for interns despite being here for just a summer. The networking opportunities and day to day desk interactions during the summer are also useful for improving soft skills.

Appropriate balance- people were friendly and happy to talk about things outside of work, but equally the correct balance for trying to concentrate when everyone had a lot on. Senior management always happy to chat with the interns at morning meetings etc. "Meet the MD meetings" within the department demonstrated a flat structure- everybody was approachable and friendly.

The recruitment process was thorough, but one of the best organized compared to competitors. On the internship itself, there were a couple of HR organizational hiccups here or there, but the department specifically and HR generally had thought the internship through. Especially well organized within equity research- very good coordination between senior management and line managers on additional projects to manage workload.

Barclays very much invested in every intern. Training at the start for all those assuming no financial background for modeling and basic markets introduction (for those from a non-finance/econ/maths background definitely don't be deterred from applying by thinking you will be worse in this aspect of the job than other applicants; modeling, excel and accounting can be taught to anyone). Any permanent employee was always willing to explain their job role to understand the firm as a whole as well.

As a small department equity research has fairly limited headcount and less flexibility with regard to placing interns. However, there is real focus on developing junior talent and some graduate level positions. Flexibility within the firm is also evident- there are a number of people who started out in other divisions then moved to equity research later on.

Great intern cohort socially- went out after work or for lunch during the day a couple of times. Also nice to have people you get on with when having to come in to the office on the odd weekend!

Expensive- the salary did make up for this, but the long hours mean in reality you're not compensated as much as you think.

Quite expensive, but huge range of places to go to both in Canary Wharf and across London.

Department organized social events and HR organized citizenship events. Obviously the hours make it difficult to get involved in much outside Barclays, but the range of opportunities within Barclays and manager support for participation is good.