Technology Spring Week - Glasgow Review

I really enjoyed the week, far more than I was expecting to do so. The entire week was planned perfectly and we experienced a variety of talks giving different insights into how technology impacts various roles at Barclays as well as the importance of what Barclays does as a whole.

The group that I was on the insight week with really felt like a family and our coordinators did a great job encouraging people to mix and make friends with a range of people from a lot of different backgrounds. I felt that my opinions were listened to and everyone got a chance to be heard.

The coordinators really helped us to stay organised and we were always aware of what our next task or talk was going to be. We were given a lot of advice and whenever people did need extra assistance or had questions there was always someone on hand to answer it.

A lot of the skills and knowledge I acquired were specific to technology and Barclays and so aren't directly transferrable to my economics degree. However, I learn lots of things about the overall working world as well as advice that will have a huge impact on my success with similar opportunities in the future such as CV and corporate etiquette workshops.

The planning put into the week was impeccable and it was perfectly well structured. I never felt bored or hungry, the coordinators made sure that there was always something exciting on the horizon and even provided muffins and doughnuts at their own expense on one day when she realised we were as a group a bit tired.

Coming from university life of having no need to wake up early it could have been expected that a week of working 9-5 could have led to lots of tired and moody students, but the atmosphere was almost always bubbly and energetic, by the end of the week we felt like a school class that had been studying together for years.

The amount of time and effort invested in us far surpassed my expectations and really made me believe Barclays want me to do well. Each session invested in developing my knowledge and my personal skills from Barclays specific knowledge to opportunities to work shadow those who are currently in graduate roles.

At the end of every talk with employees of ranging seniority we were able to ask them questions about their experience with Barclays and every person was very open and honest. We had a panel session with 5 senior members and had 2 work shadowing opportunities so by the end of the week I felt like I knew Barclays like the back of my hand.

At the end of every talk with employees of ranging seniority we were able to ask them questions about the Barclays culture and every person was very open, honest and spoke passionately about how the values and culture was a cornerstone to their reasons behind staying at Barclays for x number of years.

I had little to no knowledge of the roles available to an economics student with a desire to work in technology prior to the week and by the end I felt really excited by the tech analyst role that Barclays offer and I really understand what it entails so it was a great insight.

We were paid £250 with travel expenses additionally

We had a networking evening with a range of current employees from graduates to more senior members working within technology. We also did 2 work shadowing sessions in which we were matched to employees in roles that matched our degrees and interests and this gave me a great chance to meet similar people to me.

The networking sessions had lots of people in a range of technology roles to talk to and they were more than willing to talk to everyone and give an insight into their roles and pros and cons of their job. Additionally, there was free beer, wine and pizza so can't go wrong!

This was an area in which we didn't find out that much but it was touched on.

This was undoubtedly one of the best sober weeks of my adult life! The people definitely made it that way but the coordinators organised it perfectly and everything that I learnt was useful and sessions were fun and engaging. A great advert for Barclays and a fun experience all round.