Spring Intern Review

The spring week was extremely insightful, there was an abundance of opportunities to learn new things, and so many opportunities to network with the most senior representatives of the business. The fact that we covered so much content in such a short period of time was incredible, I came out of the process learning more about Barclays, but most importantly; more about myself.

All employees took the time to talk to you, no matter what level they were. This included many people starting out as analyst, to those as senior as directors and managing directors. It was a truly eye-opening experience, with ample opportunities to learn from the best talent within all divisions.

Everyday we were taught new things, whenever we participated in a task or group activity, professionals relevant to the activities were always on board to give a helping hand. I really commend HR for setting up such well organised activities throughout the week, no two days were the same, and everyday there are more people to guide you through the week.

With regards to me, my degree is completely different to finance, however the mathematical aspects do have some relevance. Aside from the quantitative element, the most important skills developed throughout this programme were the debating skills, the communication skills, the team-working skills, and the networking skills. Everyday focused on a certain aspect/quality relevant for Barclays.

I don't think the structure could have flowed any better than it did. Each day focused on a relevant topic, slots were allocated throughout the day to go in depth within certain aspects of the topic, and to summarise the topics that we went through, we participated in activities to ensure that we fully understood the concepts.

Every single person at the spring were a treat to work with, the atmosphere was extremely chilled out, not at all stressful; it felt as if we were in a training week rather than a spring week. Food was regularly provided, and we were given many opportunities to relax and network with each other.

The company invested so much time in each and every one of us. Senior and junior employees alike took the time out of their busy schedules to teach us things they have learned throughout their entire careers. Not only did they develop us as a group, but they provided us each with a "buddy", who acted as our mentors throughout the programme.

There were so many opportunities to talk to people, it is very much possible to discover anything you need to know, all staff were approachable, and willing to provide extra time outside of the spring week to show you what their jobs entailed. It wasn't quite like having a full time role within the company as we were restricted from quite a lot of things, due to confidentiality, however it was as close as it gets.

From the first minute I stepped into the building, I could feel the vibe of the company, simply from a managing director holding the door open for you to walk through, you get an idea of how people within Barclays treat each other. A simple word to describe the culture of Barclays is, respect.

It was a great way for me to decide my future pathway, but at the same time it made it extremely difficult, as it made me realised just how many roles I could potentially see myself in. Your mindset can shift so easily, simply from just talking to someone in a networking session.

I was paid £250 for the whole experience, which if you ask me, is incredibly generous, considering most people would probably participate for free: but I am not complaining. There were also opportunities to be given free accommodation, as well as opportunities to reimburse travel to and from the office.

As mentioned previously, everyday was a networking day. I spoke to so many people across so many divisions, and positions. I spoke with managing directors from trading, to analysts from ECM, it was literally impossible not to network with people. The only way you wouldn't meet people or network with them is if you gave your ID to someone else, and went home to watch some Netflix.

10/10, just like the rating beside it.

The activities where brushed over, however if you wanted to discover more about it, the opportunity was there to speak to people about it in more detail, either during the spring week, or in your own time.

Not too sure, what does my rating say?