Summer Analyst Review

I enjoyed my internship at Barclays and especially the opportunity to get to learn more about the current Ring-Fencing legislation that the banks are looking to implement. It was good to be stationed in Head Office, right in the heart of the business, and given projects that gave an opportunity to understand the business structure further. Although it was overwhelming at first I settled in fairly well and enjoyed it.

I felt that the objectives I was set allowed me to contribute positively to the business area and as such I think as it became clear that I was delivering well on the projects my colleagues valued me more. At first it was difficult with many other interns also arriving in the department to appear both proactive and curious whilst there were some IT issues and I had not yet had a full induction into the team. Over time it became a lot easier to converse with my colleagues as I understood the different issues they were working on.

Since the internship was in June/July/August, there were a lot of team members on annual leave throughout the internship and sometimes this meant that there was not as much direct support, but there were plenty of people in different teams that I had formed a relationship with and were able to help me with IT/ resourcing issues. My manager was very happy to talk with me and share their insight into the business and the financial services industry as a whole which benefited my overall understanding.

I was fairly busy on a daily basis and generally worked on average an extra hour and a half above my contracted hours of 9-5 each day. There is a lot of Mandatory training for all interns to complete as well as additional training relevant to different business areas that it assigned with the start of the new quarter. The projects I was assigned also worked to stretch me and organise meetings with many different people throughout the business, and there were also events organised by HR to attend with senior members of the bank. My calendar ended up being filled up quite quickly overall, but the work was fairly steady which allowed me to work to manage my time and plan in advance.

I was given duties that, whilst important to the business, were always checked and signed off by my manager before implementation. As such, whilst there was a good amount of importance to my work, there was not a great risk or high level of responsibility for what I was doing as I would frequently check in with my manager to make sure I had colleague buy in and that the project was progressing in the way they wanted.

Since I am studying a BA, the financial services training that I received is not directly relevant to my degree, and from the other side of the coin it was a steep learning curve coming into such an industry. I will return to university perhaps with a slightly different take on some of my reading, but not having been academically aided. However, I do hope that the knowledge and insight that I have gained will stand me in good stead for my wider career, as I have a much greater understanding of the industry and the role of financial services.

The general atmosphere was generally rather subdued within the office and there was quite a productive, focussed sense amongst the team. I don't feel like I missed out on too much as the intern-led events were quite lively, but I think possibly working there long term would have been slightly different. It was quite conducive to work, however, and I never felt rushed or in the midst of chaos on my floor. A lot of colleagues were on conference calls or phone calls for a lot of the time so there was background noise but not general chit-chat or anything distracting.

The placement was quite well organised but there were times where the logistics had been overlooked- e.g. giving us a written timetable or telling us where to find our login details. There were some events that were cancelled last minute, and forms that had very tight turnaround times or were mis-sent, but overall the placement seemed fairly well run. It would have been nice to get more of a sense as to how other departments ran as well as my own, but I was able to get a good overview of my own department and key contacts within it.

The company gave us a good background in the company itself through the initial training days, and later a full day induction and personality assessment. There was also opportunity to meet with senior leaders and complete online learning, so it did feel like there was a good level of support.

There is the opportunity to join the graduate scheme after completion of the internship if your line manager recommends you and there are enough roles to go around. However, it is very difficult to move departments, i.e. from Risk to BUK for example, and the offer is also quite strict on you taking it up in one year (you can't defer and do a Masters degree without reapplying). That said, there is a great emphasis on internal career progression so I got the sense that once you roll off the graduate scheme there is still some freedom as to what you want to go into later on.

Some interns put on drinks/informal events after work.

We were all placed within Canary Wharf in London so costs were quite high but there was an accommodation allowance provided with the first month's pay. London prices for accommodation were very high and a lot of interns either rented a room or stayed in university accommodation for the duration of the internship. Especially for teams with long hours, it helped to have accommodation that was nearby and easily accessible. Some interns even walked to work. Socialising again was quite expensive- especially for after-work drinks, but if you are a bit more creative there are lots of things to do in London.

Not great.

There were some opportunities but these were mainly organised by the interns themselves rather than centrally. There was a farewell event organised on the penultimate day, and networking drinks on the first day of the induction. There were Citizenship events run throughout the internship which were good to get involved in as you were able to actively assist a charity with its business model and current issues, whilst still developing soft skills and greater understanding of industry. There was some interaction internally with the Women's network which supports external charities but this was fairly limited.