Barclays Functions Spring Intern Review

I had a really enjoyable time during my Barclays Functions Spring Week. Many of the sessions prepared by graduates working at Barclays were interactive and got everyone involved. The social sides of things was also fantastic because you met and got to know your fellow Spring interns. I have left having made some great friends.

I felt really valued at Barclays. This is because it was apparent to me how much time and resources was invested in the programme. There were senior speakers from each of the seven functions putting aside their time to come speak to us and answer all our questions, for example.

There was a great deal of guidance and support provided for us as spring interns. There were many networking sessions during the week for us to ask all the questions we had about careers. We were provided with an app on our phone that had the schedule for the whole week and all the timings.

During the week, we had to prepare and then give a presentation, and the skills learnt in this process will definitely be transferable. We had to manage our time well to do our research in the time scheduled to be project working time. We had to obviously work as a team and present confidently.

The entire week was extremely well structured. Days generally went from about 08:30 to around 17:30. They provided us with an app that had the details of all the timings and what activities we would be doing. It was useful to have that information a week in advance of the programme so that we could prepare a little bit.

The atmosphere was fantastic. Amongst the us interns, I worried that it was going to be very competitive but instead we all really supported each other. Everyone was very open including Barclays employees. We were treated very well. There was the sense that everyone wanted to make the most of this opportunity.

The company certainly invested a great deal in us. There were talks arranged with senior members of each of the seven functions and they had obviously given up their valuable to time to speak to us. Graduates working at the company also organised and devised insight sessions for us. A great deal of their time had been invested in helping us.

We had two two hour work shadowing sessions during the week. This was opportunity to discuss exactly what working at Barclays was like and the practical sides of things. They were happy to answer any of our questions. In a similar vein, there were many networking sessions organised for us to really ask anything we wanted to about working there,

At the start of the week we were told about the values of the company and that gave us some insight into the culture at Barclays. The work shadowing sessions and networking sessions furthered our knowledge on this topic. At the end of the week there was also a graduate panel during which we had another chance to ask for advice and understand the atmosphere there.

There were senior speaker talks and insight sessions for all seven of the functions. As a result, we all had a good idea about what working in each of those departments would be like and the skills you would need to work in those areas. Therefore we could all make informed choices as to which department we were most interested in. They always made sure that at networking sessions all seven of the functions were covered too.

I believe we will receive £250 for expenses.

There were numerous opportunities for meeting Barclays employees. There were senior speaker talks, insight sessions, senior member speed networking and a graduate evening networking event all organised for us. Luckily, everyone we spoke to were extremely helpful, open and approachable. They all provided us with invaluable insight into what working at Barclays might be like.

The networking opportunities were brilliant. Two of the events were 'speed networking' and this was useful because we had a chance to talk to people from each of the seven functions. We also had one two hour evening networking event with many graduates there. This was an enjoyable evening with a large number of people, food and drink.

During work shadowing, in particular, we were told about the things outside of work that employees could get involved with but obviously these activities were not the focus of the week.

I would definitely recommend this insight to everyone interested in working at Barclays. I had a really enjoyable and useful week.