Student Review

I thought the insight was quite enjoyable. There was accommodation provided by Barclays which brought the cohort closer together which made the experience more enjoyable. The week itself was structured well with a good balance of insightful talks from staff, networking sessions and group work. All the staff were very friendly.

The standard of accommodation provided was very high which made me feel valued. Breakfast was provided each day at the hotel, we were given a very reasonable daily allowance to spend at the canteen for lunch and then again a good amount to spend at the hotel for tea. Lots of staff voluntarily gave up their time to provide talks and network with us which made us feel valued.

Guidance was provided whenever anybody required it. At the end of presentations there was always the opportunity to ask questions. There were several networking sessions put on with a range of different staff from apprentices to senior staff. This was a great opportunity to ask personal questions regarding career options and to get good advice.

The networking sessions were very useful. At the start of the week I wasn't very confident in approaching senior staff however I improved throughout the week as I got more and more practice in the numerous networking events. I feel like this is a vital skill in life so this insight week has been very useful in that regard

The programme was very well structured. There was an app which we could find a timetable which was very useful, the sessions ran very well and the days just generally felt well planned out and structured. The only small thing was some minor adjustments to the timetable were made throughout the week however this did not cause any problems.

The atmosphere was very good throughout the week. All the staff were very friendly and it was clear effort and planning had been put in to make the experience as fun as possible for us. The atmosphere amongst fellow students was also great, everybody was very friendly which made the spring week enjoyable

A large amount of staff volunteered their time to run presentations, attend networking events and to run shadowing sessions. I found the shadowing sessions to be very useful because it gave you a real insight into what real work life is like at Barclays and what you could be doing on a day to day basis.

We got to speak to lots of people to get a real insight into different roles

The company values were discussed a fair amount throughout the week and it really was clear that they meant a lot to the company. All the staff were great with us students and I felt the values really were shown by the staff. I really enjoyed the culture of the company.

It was very useful. There was a wide range of speakers from different positions within Barclays so we got a good insight into different roles which helped me decide which role I would like to pursue in the future. The networking allowed me to get a better understanding of what each role was responsible for.

Accommodation was provided fully paid for. Breakfast was provided each day at the hotel, we were given £7.50 each day loaded onto a card to spend on lunch at the site restaurant. We were allowed to spend £15 each day at the hotel for the evening meal. We were also given £250 for the week and any travel to the hotel was reimbursed.

We got to meet lots of different employees at lots of different levels at Barclays. There were several networking events and there were two work shadowing opportunities.

We got to meet lots of different staff at different levels throughout the company.

It was mentioned that there are lots of sports and social events that staff can get involved in.

If you are interested in the financial technology sector then absolutely