Financial Crime Assurance Analyst Review

I enjoyed the internship incredibly as I was given a very diverse range of work from various sub-teams, which gave me exposure to the many different parts of the team. Everyone was welcoming, friendly and could create rapport with me within a few minutes. The culture at Barclays is exceptional, and not what I expected from a multi-national bank. There were plenty of socialising opportunities with fellow interns, who were enthusiastic and always up for an after-work drink.

Everyone in my team valued me enough to introduce themselves over the first week and tried to get to know me, my background and my interest in the area (compliance). There was nobody that avoided providing me work, provide feedback or failed to take me seriously because I’m “just an intern”. As far as I was concerned, I was very much a part of the team. Work was handed down to me from various people, and it was not just menial admin, but some interesting, experimental work too. Some members went over and beyond and suggested work I could do, such as a presentation on a new and exciting upcoming area.

My goals and expectations were set right off the bat in the first week, which set me up for the rest of the internship well. I was also shown through various parts of admin by a team member assigned by my manager, who was open for me to approach him whenever I thought I needed him. My manager also put in a half-hour catch up session every week of the internship to hear about what I’ve achieved, and more importantly, provide feedback as to what else I could do to make the most of the internship. He made it clear that he was open to be approached if I thought my workload was too much or too little, which was important for later on in the internship.

Nearer to the beginning of the internship I found that I had a lot of spare time whilst I was waiting for work to be handed down to me. However, I took this time to read about our team, the bank, the industry, and most importantly meet people in various areas of Compliance. Towards the end of the internship, my schedule was often very full (which is brilliant as it gives you real experience of work) and I started to turn down work as I did not have capacity. I was not expected to come in extremely early or stay extremely late.

The work that was handed down to me was interesting but fairly low on the scale of importance. If I got things wrong, the implications would be largely internal which gave a feeling that I was lacking responsibility. This could be work such as updating the holiday tracker, as opposed to sending a review back to a client urging them to make changes to their business unit. Although diverse, I felt that the work handed to me was of low importance which the colleagues could not prioritise to do themselves. This being said, it is understandable to not give me a huge amount of learning and responsibility for a short internship.

Some of the most valuable things I learnt on this internship was time management and its importance, which will help me for life, and being able to listen to more senior people without interruption which lets them talk freely, which results in your learning more. This would help me in my career after university. Some other valuable skills include the ability to raise a concern or give a realistic view on when a deadline cannot be reached as soon as possible, and also that staying humble and honest about what you don’t know is seen upon highly by almost everyone, since it shows a keenness to learn.

The atmosphere was casual and relaxed. Firstly, nobody wears a tie on the floor as there’s a casual aura about the place. The floor takes part in a Dress Down Friday where you can wear jeans and t shirts if you wish. Everybody is friendly and approachable, and don’t necessarily need to book an appointment with them to speak – although some people may favour this as it is more polite.

Human Resources were extremely timely with their communications which were crystal clear as to what actions we need to take and what to expect. There are times where HR made mistakes such as typing the wrong room for meetings but human error is to be expected anywhere. There is a good mix of autonomy (setting up our own senior staff networking meetings) and rigid structure (pre-determined talks).

I asked and gained permission to attend a session of Compliance Careers Academy which is run by Barclays only at this moment in time. This was a valuable insight into the entire course which I would be a part of in a full time role. Other than that, training was largely up to me to use the internet to learn about, for example, excel.

The graduate scheme contains 3 rotations which is pretty rare. It provides a valuable opportunity to gain exposure to various parts of the bank, which Barclays is pretty invested in providing. I have heard from multiple sources that it is relatively easy to move between departments and teams within Barclays which means prospects for a Barclays employee is looking extremely good.

Most of my intern colleagues were up for a social meet up after work. They were easy going, nice to talk to, and there was no “competition” mind set. However, most interns soon opted to eating at their desks and turned down offers to meet for lunch. This being said, there is plenty of opportunity, should you wish to seek it, to meet interns outside of your business area, or sometimes a different company entirely.

Canary Wharf is not known for its affordability. Buying lunch from big chains such as Pret or Itsu will set you back around £6. Wasabi, another large chain actually increase their price for their Canary Wharf branch to reflect the demand. Eating at trendy, new and upcoming places around Canary Wharf such as “Crossrail Place” will cost at least £10. The Barclays canteen does not seem to be subsidised, and interns do not get a lunch allowance like you would at some other companies. If you are on a budget, it will be vastly better to buy a meal deal from Boots or Tesco (both in Canary Wharf) or bring food from home.

There are plenty of bars and pubs in and around Canary Wharf. Most are within a 10 minute walking distance from the Bank, making it easy to create a social event. I don’t think there are any clubs but that much be a good thing as it’d be very pricey anyway.

Keep an eye on your email as there are sometimes events that come your way which have nothing to do with HR or your placement/internship, such as the ‘Asian Professionals’ forum’ which I attended. You can also keep an eye on the Eventbrite website which has Barclays-only events, most of which is open to us. Colleagues are another source of external events as I was approached by someone with the opportunity to visit Rise London, Barclays’ FinTech start-up programme.