Investment Banking Intern Review

Overall, I have very much enjoyed the internship experience. Initiatives to meet senior bankers and sessions organised by HR gave me a good overview of different teams within IBD, and I found the people on my team to be very supportive throughout the course of the whole internship. I felt like the work I was doing was an important contribution to the whole team and that I have learnt a lot about how the whole bank is connected.

As a part of my team was based abroad, I thought it would be challenging to connect with the team at first but in the end, that was the part that made my internship truly enjoyable. All members of the team were friendly, approachable and supportive. I was in direct contact with my director on a daily basis who was more than happy to lead me through technical aspects anytime.

I could have turned to my supervisor for guidance whenever I needed. He also mentioned on multiple occasions that I can reach out to him even when on holidays. There were two appraisals that each intern had to go through but my manager was happy to give me an objective feedback whenever I asked for it.

The beginning of the internship was less busy as it was the time when I was trying to get my head around the responsibilities and nature of work of my team. However, as my skills improved, I was able to support my team more and more, resulting in a few days at the end of the internship when it was only me and my director working on a pitch.

After a couple of basic tasks, the responsibility I was given was gradually increasing. By the end of the internship, my team trusted me well enough and had the confidence in me to produce most of the slides without detailed checking of all the values. I was also working on a project which my team kept for further use.

The whole internship has been a great learning experience in terms of personal development, and me being able to objectively assess whether I would be a good fit for this industry - which I find even more valuable than the skills earned. However, my understanding of technicals has incredibly improved and I believe it will be of a great advantage in financial modules throughout my final year at uni as well.

The atmosphere was relaxed and people liked to joke around a lot. Especially during summer, any person I would ask for advice would take the time to explain me anything unclear or just go for a coffee anytime it would suit us both. There were also Friday drinks taking place regularly and a big company event in the middle of the internship.

The internship was organised well - there were many sessions from different teams across the IBD which gave me a great overview and further breakfast or 1-on-1 sessions with senior bankers that would deepen my knowledge of teams I was interested in finding more about. Personally, I would appreciate to be able to work in more teams over the course of the internship but I realise that 9 weeks might not be a long enough time for that.

Almost the whole first week was about training. We had whole two days of Excel modelling sessions which I found incredibly useful, with further trainings for various programmes used on day-to-day basis by most of the IBD teams, such as FactSet. More learning was done however on-the-job when I gained team-specific knowledge of programmes and important tools.

I have not lived in Canary Wharf and cannot comment on the accommodation costs from personal experience, but in general, meals and drinks were priced in accordance to life in London. There was quite a big choice of meals thanks to summer markets, as well as healthy salad places where the average lunch cost around 7GBP. Alternatively, interns used the canteen in the building which was even cheaper.

Canary Wharf is not a place for many nightlife activities. All the bars close around 11 pm and then people either go home or move somewhere west together. It would have been nicer if there were more options in the area but this is nothing Barclays can improve by itself.

There was a volunteering day organised by Barclays but I personally did not have the time to attend. I, however, heard of other interns participating in it or even playing sports with their teams on the weekends. I have also joined a few conferences organised by the firm about personal development or advice on how to start a career in banking.