Spring Intern Review

I attended the Barclays Technology Spring Week in Glasgow. For me it was an extremely productive and beneficial insight into Tech at Barclays. Through a mix of talks, workshops and workshadowing I gained a much needed awareness into the role of Tech in the financial sector, and Barclays as a business, in addition to being fast tracked to an interview for a summer internship next year. We were also given several opportunities to meet and network with Barclays employees, that is of course in addition to the friendships made during the week.

I always felt appreciated during my time there. Anyone I spoke to or worked with made me feel as though I was already part of the Barclays team. They treated us for the individuals that we are by always trying finding out our individual goals and aspirations, our unique backgrounds and skills, and how that could be used in a Tech role at Barclays.

Members of the HR team were always there whether in person, or by phone and email to support us with anything we needed. Specific guidance in Technology and a possible career in it was provided through several people working for Barclays Tech, and opportunities during the week (e.g. workshadowing and the networking event).

We received personal development workshops which are always useful to have (e.g. leadership skills, CV). On the Tech side we received several varied talks on different aspects of the business and the Tech being used by Barcalys, this included talks into topics that I was not well aware of, both on the business side and Tech side.

Our agendas were planned ahead to the minute with varied event types from 8 to 6 everyday.

Motivational and co-operative atmosphere with plenty of ice breakers at the start to get to know one another.

Before the insight I was starting to have my doubts about a career in Tech, but after the insight and especially the day trip to the Edinburgh Code Base labs and startups, I was motivated and confident once again about pursuing a career in Tech, regardless of the root, be it on the Tech or business side.

I learned a lot about the friendly and supportive dynamic and culture at Barclays Tech. This was mainly demonstarted on all our workshadowing sessions, which were with different people working on different parts of the Tech process but the same culture and atmosphere was evident throughout all parts of the company.

What I particularly enjoyed was how they introduced us to both sides of the spectrum. We were given the opportunity to meet and talk with managers of start-ups on side, and permanent employees - both sides talking to us openly about their reasons for pursuing this path, in addition to risks and benefits that come with it.

In addition to talking with people after delivering their session or talk, we had a dedicated networking evening in a social atmosphere to speak one on one with both senior and junior members of the Barclays team, who were all very open to our questions be it on a career in Barclays or blockchain technology.

Definitely. I would also recommend it to friends not pursing a technical degree and those not even necessarily interested in the Financial Sector. The reason being its a great opportunity to learn the behind the scenes of how those major financial institutions are dealing with the modern day society that depends on Tech in almost every aspect.