Trade Capture Utility (TCU) Summer Analyst Review

I really enjoyed my summer internship at Barclays, and got on very well with both my team and many of the other interns. Covering three desks, I was able to gain scope across numerous equities products and interact with many colleagues on a daily basis. We were given objectives by our line managers at the beginning of the internship and set out to complete them over the 9 weeks, whilst taking on any additional responsibility where possible. However, the intern work wasn't the most exciting and often lacking because we can't get access to all the systems/obviously don't get client access. I spent long periods of time reading and trying to learn about the products, but the hours were very comfortable (8.30am-6pm). My team was also very young and we enjoyed many a night out once or twice a week, which enabled me to interact with them in a much more relaxed social setting.

The team in which I was placed was extremely welcoming, and made a real effort to make me feel comfortable and explain things well if I didn’t understand. They set me quite straightforward objectives but pushed me to overachieve wherever possible; this led me to learn how to code and automate processes that the team undertook daily. Over the course of the internship, I reached out to several teams across the business and was always greeted with warmth and curiosity, regardless of how senior the member of staff was. People often spent far longer with you than they initially set aside for the meeting, which made me feel as though they cared and wanted me to succeed – definitely engrained in the firm’s culture.

The support and guidance was excellent! When tasks were set or work shadowing undertaken, colleagues explained things extensively and made sure I understood. HR assigned us all with a line manager and buddy before the internship began and I sat between the two of them on the desk, which was incredibly valuable. After the first couple of weeks, they did expect you to just get on with tasks/manage your own diary so I had to be proactive in asking for help as and when it was needed. When I ran out of tasks or had spare capacity, it was up to me to show initiative and go looking for things to do.

It is entirely at the discretion of line mangers how much work interns get, so there was much variation from intern to intern. In my case, my line manager was fantastic and made sure that I had a manageable amount of work at all times; he told me to let him know if the balance shifted, so that he could lighten the burden. However, at times I felt as though I did not have much work on and filled my time by reading Barclays Live publications, the FT, Bloomberg articles or Investopedia. Work-life balance was integral in my team, so there was an emphasis to not stay too late when you’d done what you needed to for the day.

As far as day-to-day tasks went, I wasn’t given that much responsibility because of the nature of Markets as a whole – we can't get access to all the systems/obviously don't get client access. Instead, I was given projects to complete, either for my own learning experience or to help the team out by suggesting process improvements. I had complete ownership of the latter and so took the initiative to actually design and implement changes, which saw me learn how to code and write macros.

Soft skills such as team work, communication and time management were vital on this internship and will be very applicable going forward. More technically, my Excel skills improved tenfold and I began teaching myself how to code in VBA and SQL – this will put me in very good stead for the future whatever I decide I want to do. However, most of my learning was self-directed and there is very limited training provided beyond the first three days (classroom training).

Being based on the Equities trading floor meant that the general atmosphere was quite loud and fast-paced at times. Whilst the floor as a whole is enjoyable, there were smaller pockets of different levels of excitement depending on which desks/products you covered (cash trading was far louder than exotic derivatives, for example). On the whole, it was a lot more relaxed than work experience I completed at a competitor back in 2012, but I think that’s just an industry-wide trend as more is being automated so there is less need for colleagues to be shouting across prices to each other. People were mostly on hand to help or answer questions, except during busy times, and explain what they do. I also really appreciated not having anyone breathing down my neck about the hours I worked or how long my lunch break was – I managed my own time and diary. Dress code was business casual during the summer (shirt and trousers on the floor).

The internship was well organised by HR from my experience and information was relayed well throughout. We had a 3-day induction that consisted of training and talks at the outset, and then I moved on to the desk for 8 and a half weeks (with a terminal already set up on my desk). Most of the Markets interns rotated across 2 desks, spending around 4 weeks on each; however, I covered 3 desks throughout the whole internship, which meant I could build much stronger relationships. Intern events were plentiful and spread across the summer, giving me the chance to meet lots of different people across the organisation. Personally, I think that a lot more formal training should be organised!

The firm’s culture meant that much of the informal training involved me walking up to a colleague on the desk and asking them to spend time with me – everyone was approachable and willing to discuss what they did, their experiences, and my long-term career plans. However, other than that, most of my learning was self-directed and there is very limited formal technical/skills training provided beyond the first three days (classroom training) – something that definitely needs investing in when compared to competitors across the street! There are some mandatory training assignments on the online portal, but it mostly seemed irrelevant for an intern. Other than this, the firm did organise for several high-ranking staff members, including the CEO, to address the interns; whilst this was valuable, it was more subjective narrative and experience-based rather than personal development or training.

While I had a great experience at the firm as a whole, I am yet undecided about joining full-time as a graduate because I’m unsure whether the nature of the work my team do is for me (I’m currently weighing up Barclays against an offer at another company in a different industry, but would be open to discussing moving to a different function at Barclays). There is an extensive range of divisions and job opportunities here and the firm is far more in favour of internal mobility than competitors, so I’m waiting to see what the future holds.

There was an incredibly strong social scene at Barclays and it far exceeded competitors across the street (perhaps an intrinsic part of its culture). I went out with my team once or twice a week for drinks that sometimes continued into the early hours and met up with other interns regularly – Thursday and Friday nights tend to be big! In the office, there is a very friendly vibe too but you generally only meet/interact with other interns from the same division as you.

Barclays is in Canary Wharf (London), so the cost of living is significant. Thankfully, I live in London so I was able to save a lot of money on rent but therefore had to endure a much longer commute across London. General travel, food and drinks are expensive, as would be for any intern in the city, but it is definitely affordable on the intern salary. All interns are also given a generous accommodation allowance that is paid with your first pay-slip, so you are looked after well!

Great – there are loads of bars in Canary Wharf, stacked with people working in similar jobs to you (could be a pro or con, depending on what you like). Thursday and Friday nights are exciting with a significant buzz well into both nights. If bars aren’t your scene, central London is on your doorstep, where interns sometimes venture for nights out/theatre/other activities.

As far as Barclays activities go, there are fewer available for interns when compared to institutions of its size. If you want to get involved in a sport or activity for Barclays, you had to activity go seeking them and we weren’t given a list of things to get involved in (would have been really helpful). Interns were also afforded the opportunity to participate in the Intern Citizenship Challenge (half a day of charity work), but it turned out to be brainstorming ideas in the Barclays office to help charities out – good opportunity to meet other interns from across divisions though I suppose. Outside of Barclays, involvement in activities depends on your team’s face time, your time management and your inclination towards a work-life balance. In Markets, interns tended to have a life outside of work in the evenings and weekends, with no work being taken home.