Front Office Spring Week Intern Review

I enjoyed it greatly. The programme was not only helpful but also interesting, fun and well-run. There were several interactive and engaging activities like the team debate, a session where we learned basic coding and a tour of the Barclaycard officer floor. Breaks are also given appropriately and so even a long day does not feel like a drag.

I felt very valued in my time at Barclays despite only being there for 5 days. All employees, regardless of seniority, treat you as if you were very much part of the organisation in terms of taking and answering your questions. They are usually also very willing to connect you with someone who could be of help to you, and just happy to go the extra mile in general.

Plenty. At all times, there were two fantastic members of the HR recruitment team with us to support us in all our needs. This was not just limited to the insight week itself but even in all arrangements that preceded that (e.g. travel, accommodation). You would certainly not feel helpless or neglected regardless of your situation.

The skills I developed will help greatly as much of the talks that were organised for us, especially those given by senior leadership, revolved around them sharing career and life advice that is applicable to us in a banking context as well as any general career context. Therefore if one were willing to listen and absorb the content of the insight week, it would certainly assist them in many ways.

It was very well structured. Before the spring week started, I was quite skeptical as to how we were going to be sufficiently exposed to 3 different divisions within just 5 days. However, this was planned and executed with excellent breadth and depth. The structure of the program definitely achieves its objective of informing us interns of which divisions may suit us better than others.

The general atmosphere during my insight was fantastic. Prior to the insight week, I was slightly anxious about whether the atmosphere would be overly competitive due to the prospect of the assessment centre at the end of the week. However, this did not turn out to be the case. Most people were very friendly and engaging. The atmosphere does get slightly more competitive closer to the assessment centre day however, which is only natural.

This is a hard question to answer in terms of resources as we interns do not really have that information. However, as far as time and dedication goes, Barclays and its people were extremely generous in their investment in us. Regardless of seniority, every employee that spoke to us gave our questions unwavering attention and did their best to find us the best answer they could give.

This particular outcome is of course very limited given the nature of a 5-day programme. It would also vary greatly depending on which division and which team within a division you are referring to. However, the insight does give you a taste of Barclays culture in general. Personally, the impression I got of it was very positive. There is definitely a culture of mutual support and growth.

It is hard to judge the culture with too much certainty because this varies greatly between divisions, teams, functions and regions. However, the sense that I got of Barclays culture in general is quite reliable in my opinion. And my impression of it is that there is a very healthy and warm culture at Barclays where people do take great pride in working together to deliver the best to their clients.

The content of the days were extremely helpful in helping me to decide on my future career path. Not only did I learn more about what part of the bank I might be interested in, but it also gave me a more general sense of the nature of tasks that would align well with my interests.

There were numerous opportunities for networking and meeting other employees at the Barclays Front Office Spring Week. This included actual networking sessions over drinks/lunch, roundtable sessions, as well as reasonable amounts of time to ask questions after every employee presentation. How much you get out of it will of course depend on how much you put yourself out there.