Finance Summer Analyst Review

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the internship. I interned in finance and I was surprised by the sociable culture within the teams. Regular socials such as 'Thirsty Third Thursdays', provided a useful opporturnity to network with the other teams that come under the 'GFD' functions heading. In terms of work, I was given a good level of independence, whilst receiving as much support as I needed from the team. The only negative that comes to mind is that its often easy to get bored with the work that has been assigned to you, but I think as an intern that's to be expected to an extent.

I felt very valued by my team. I was taken for a welcome and a leaving lunch which helped me settle into the social circle. Then in terms of work, at the start of the internship I put in time with all members of the team who helped to explain what their work entailed and answered any questions I had. Throughout the internship, if I was ever stuck or needed something to be explained, somebody in my team would have the time to talk me through it.

My manager put in an hour a week for a 'catch up' that I could use to raise any questions or issues I had. Plus if they were working from home, I could always pick up the phone to get hold of them. On top of that, the director who was the head of the team also scheduled in a few catch ups to see how I was getting on and to give advice on what to do and what people to meet.

The business of the day varied a lot. The general trend was that at the start and the end of the internship, not much work was set and days could drag a bit whilst trying to fill the time. It makes sense in a way, as at the start you need to take time to learn how everything works and my team were good at giving me plenty of time to do that. At the end, as work winds down they're less inclined to give you work because you're leaving soon so you won't necessarily be able to finish it off. There is plenty going on though and you can always fill the time by shadowing other interns or scheduling to meet your graduate buddy or senior mentor.

I was given as much responsibility as I wanted really. My team covered multiple workstreams and if I wanted to get involved with all of them I could. Realistically that'd be quite stressful so I chose to focus on doing a few pieces of work very well rather than attempt to many less well. I was surprised that I was given quite a large amoutn of responsibility early on and that they trusted in the work I was doing. I was set an individual project as part of my objectives where I was given control over who I called and what I did. At the start, I felt I needed more guidance with this project but after a while I started to pick it up and was in charge of calls with teams all over the world.

The nature of the work I was carrying out was fairly niche and I don't think I'll use much of the technical knowledge that I've learnt in my future career. However the soft skills I've managed to develop throughout my time here will definitely help me in the future. Initiatives such as the meet the MD/D scheme provided an opportunity to have one on one chats with Managing Directors which is an opportunity that many people never get to have, and was useful for practicing meeting senior people within the business.

Overall I was surprised at how chatty and friendly the office was. For some reason I expected people to constantly have their heads down working but that really wasn't the case, there was plenty of times where we all stopped to have a discussion about work or otherwise which helped to contribute to a relaxed working atmosphere. My specific team weren't very outgoing in terms of after work drinks, but they did take me out for a welcome and leaving lunch which was a great opportunity to get to know them outside of a work setting. I often tagged along to the neighbouring team's drinks, their team had an overall younger dynamic and I was made to feel welcome within that team also.

The internship was very well organised. We had two days training at the start which involved having talks from senior members of Barclays, including the CEO [This section of the comment has been removed by a member of the RateMyPlacement Team because it did not meet our site terms and conditions], which helped us to settle into Barclays life and made us feel valued as working members of the company. At the start of the internship after training, HR sent out a FAQ doc which covered any question I felt needed answering and they also provided a clear breakdown of how the review process was going to work. I liked the structured nature of the review process, you have one mid-term review and one end-term review with your line manager, and at the end of the internship you hear if you got an offer for the grad scheme (if you want to get onto it). One negative to mention is that throughout the finance internship there are many 'in conversation with...' where the group of interns met directors/MDs across the company together and got to ask them questions and hear about their career journey. In terms of organisation, some of these events were often put into the diary at quite late notice, resulting in me having to move around my calendar several times.

The 2 days of training at the start were great and you felt that the firm invested heavily in that. However in finance you're put into training with the rest of the 'COO and functions' interns which results in you having quite generic training such as 'how to network'. Whilst these sessions were helpful, I feel an extra day or at least a session for the finance interns specifically would've been beneficial. Something like an introduction to finance and key things we should know would've been great. Throughout the internship there was less structured training and development but we did have access to and were encouraged to use the GFDf academy which is Barclays' internal training platform that has many videos/presentations/workshops.

Future employment prospects within the organisation are very appealing. We had it explained to us at the 2 days of training at the start that the bank has undergone large scale restructuring which has involved cutting many jobs across the world. However for the most part this phase seems to be completed and now they're looking to grow and hire in the areas which are most successful within the bank. Within finance specifically, its a wide function that will form the 'Service company' that covers both Barclays international and Barclays UK, this provides a wide range of opportunities with plenty of chances to progress quickly for the best people.

There was a very good social scene amongst the fellow interns. Of our own accord we organised a social every Friday night at local bars around Canary Wharf. In the early weeks this helped to establish a network of intern colleagues and I enjoyed making friends with people across all areas of the business. On top of this, the finance interns were invited to the wider GFDf socials which procided more opportunity to get to know the rest fo the interns plyus the rest of the workers. Then at the end of the internship, the night before the last day, HR organised a social for all of the 350 interns which was a great way to wrap up the internship.