Corporate Banking Intern Review

I've really enjoyed my time at Barclays, and am genuinely happy to be coming in to work on a Monday morning. This is largely down to how friendly my colleagues are and it has been great getting to know all the interns too. The summer has flown by as a result!

I've had the opportunity to earn the trust of my colleagues, through the work I was assigned which allowed me to take good responsibilities and ownership of the task. My colleagues are keen to give me valuable work and are vocal of how valuable my support has been. At points I perhaps could have been stretched to do more challenging, and therefore valuable work.

My manager was fully supportive from the start; he had clearly put a lot of thought into how I could get the most of the internship and offered me the necessary introductions when I joined. Throughout, he was always approachable and had as much time for me as I wanted. He offered coaching where possible.

For the large portion of the internship I was kept constantly busy, and had to manage my time and to- do lists effectively, which made this a rewarding and enjoyable experience. The hours flew by! Despite this, there was no pressure or need to stay beyond the contracted hours, which is reflective of a good work-life-balance culture I experienced in my team. Towards the end of the internship the work did tail off, but it was only then that I had to send my first email around the team asking for work!

I was given complete ownership for a large piece of work from the very start. I was able to improve the process, manage the task how I wished and making improvements where needed - my opinions and ideas were highly valued throughout, and were always considered very sincerely. There was a large amount of trust in my work, and I felt I was allowed to get on with the work without constant check ups.

I have improved the basic skills needed for a job like this; excel, writing emails, managing expectations, managing time. Re-familiarizing myself with the office environment, and building confidence with communicating my ideas and meeting senior colleagues, has been beneficial. This is particularly evident from the encouragement for you to meet senior directors and managing directors. Apart from getting into a good routine and time management, its less obvious how these skills will assist my degree.

best atmosphere I have experienced in an office. Everyone is frequently catching up / willing to have a joke. It was acceptable to chat across aisles, for example, which created a nice buzz in the atmosphere. I experienced no face time culture, and felt free to wander about as I wished.

very well organized. there were clear onboarding instructions on day one, and the interview and offer acceptance process was equally smooth. We were given a dedicated contact for any issues related to the internship/ recruitment. They have a well structured feedback process, which included timely appraisal meetings where two way feedback was encouraged.

There was 2 days or formal training at the start of the internship, where we were introduced to Barclays, fellow interns and giving a very small amount of technical training. There are plenty of opportunities to improve your office suite skills on the job, and training modules online if you wished.

I can see an excellent career path at Barclays.

I enjoyed regularly meeting up for lunch / drinks/ night out with a handful of the interns. This was informally organized, and I think there could have been more organized social events to encourage all interns to get involved. Some interns may not have had an equal opportunity to get involved.

As expected, Canary Wharf is not cheap! Going for drinks would set you back more than what you're used to at Uni but you quickly get used to paying up to £6 for a pint! Many interns live in student accommodation which is also expensive, the opportunity to live at home if possible helps a lot.