Technology Spring Intern Review

The Technology Insight Programme was well-structured and the agenda was varied. The talks from junior as well as senior colleagues were engaging and interesting. There were a number of networking and work shadowing opportunities which were great and really useful. I was also fortunate to be able to take part in a personal development session, which was a great insight into my working style.

Barclays is a company that really values its employees and even as an intern I felt that the colleagues went out of their way to make us feel at home. The colleagues volunteered their own time to talk to us about the culture and their work at Barclays, talking to us like colleagues rather than strangers.

There were lots of employees around to answer any questions that we had, no matter how busy they were. These people also mentioned honestly their opinions about what would be best and are much more useful when making a career decision. They were also around at networking sessions, volunteering their time to help us make the best of this insight week.

This insight programme was more of an insight into the work that Barclays does at its Technology Centre at Radbroke. However, we had IDG, an external development trainer, come into for a 3 hour session on personal development. This session was completely interactive and a great insight into my working style.

The insight programme was well organised with a good variety of activities, which included presentations, networking and work shadowing sessions. Everyone knew exactly what was on and when as there was an app that was used to communicate the agenda and any timing changes, which proved very useful. However, often there was a bit of waiting around in the mornings as we were told to come in a bit too early.

The atmosphere in the offices was great and welcoming and the colleagues working seemed like they really loved having us for the week. The colleagues went out their way to help us and answer any questions that we had about their work at Barclays. Walking around the campus the atmosphere was also great with colleagues smiling and talking to us.

We were able to talk to numerous employees of the company in different areas of the business. This was useful as I could find out about areas of the business that I had not even heard about. I was also really surprised to see the variety of roles available and how different areas of the company collaborated together.

Barclays was great when it came to expenses. The interns were put in a hotel for free. The hotel was great as it had a swimming pool which we were allowed to use. They also paid for our food expenses and travel expenses. On top of all these expenses, we were paid £250 for any other incurred expenses.

There was a networking breakfast, lunch and dinner, in which there were at least 15 employees present to answer any questions we had. We were also lucky enough to be able to work shadow a number of employees to gain an insight into different areas of the business and ask any questions and doubts about the business areas. The networking events were informal and felt more like social events rather than networking sessions, which was refreshing.

There was a networking breakfast, lunch and dinner, in which there were at least 15 employees present to answer any questions we had. We were also lucky enough to be able to work shadow a number of employees to gain an insight into different areas of the business and ask any questions and doubts about the business areas.