Spring Intern Review

I very much enjoyed the Spring Week, it was a great opportunity to gain first hand exposure to the operations of the Front Office. Everyone I met was very friendly and willing to help. The week was very intense which I enjoyed as this was the best way to learn about the bank.

The culture at Barclays is second to none. Even as a Spring Intern, staff were friendly and open towards all candidates. There was a policy of "no question is a stupid question", which made it easy to ask about anything I didn't understand.

We had the opportunity to work shadow a range of different roles across many different departments which was a great way to learn. We were assigned a Spring Week buddy; my buddy was happy to answer any questions and provide support.

I learnt many different skills, ranging from team building to more technical knowledge. I am taking finance modules next year and believe what I have learnt from the programme will give me a head start in my studies. We learnt about our own personalities through a questionnaire and learnt how to adapt to everyone else's personalities also.

There was very little waiting around or breaks. HR ran the programme very smoothly and did not keep us waiting for any presentations or workshops. We received a day plan which was strictly kept to.

All the other candidates were so friendly and helpful, we all wanted each other to succeed. We had many networking sessions which were great fun and insightful. Naturally, some parts of the week interested me more than others but even during the other parts, the atmosphere was great.

I was impressed by the amount of time Barclays invested into our development. The knowledge of some people was greater than others but this didn't matter. The firm still provided knowledge from the most basic to very detailed.

It was reiterated several times how the Summer Internship would be run and what would be expected of us in our expected roles. By listening to analysts who had been through the learning process, we got great exposure to what it would be like to work full time for Barclays.

The culture at Barclays became evident from very early on in the programme and continued to be shown throughout the week. It is very team based and friendly, a great environment to be a part of.

Before I started the week, I was unsure on which area of the bank I wished to work in the future. The presentations throughout the Spring Week helped me differentiate between all different areas and choose which I would like to join in the future.

We received a one off payment for expenses and also had travel reimbursed.

I was shocked by the amount of opportunities we got to network. Every lunch time was a networking session. On the first day we had a two hour networking session. There are also opportunities to meet up with employees before and after the day.

Networking is what you make of it. Barclays give you plenty of opportunity to find out all you can about the bank, if you put yourself out there to talk to employees its very informative and insightful.

I did not find out much on this topic, the week was more focused on explaining and providing insight to what employees did in their work life as many of the candidates on the Spring Week did not have great knowledge of this.

Absolutely. Even if someone is unsure that they want to go into banking, with week is for everyone. It's a great way to gain insight into the operations of the Front Office and identify if this is the career path for you.