Technology Spring Intern Review

Overall it was a really good experience and insight into how things worked at Barclays. My only criticism is that a lot of the time it felt like a very business oriented experience. It is necessary to explain Barclays as a company of course but a larger portion of technical aspects would have been more enjoyable.

All the people and attendants I’ve spoken to have been kind and considerate and I’ve become very comfortable being around the people throughout the course of the week. I felt like it had a very community based feel and like I was being brought into that especially when shadowing and talking with those who have been on this path.

There was a really good amount of support given with clear instructions of what was going on throughout the week. It was made sure of that we would be able to get through without trouble and it was great to have people around if we needed. As someone who as to commute however, it would have been nice to have direct contact if needed.

The skills I have gained are skills I’m unsure how well they can be applied. I have gained a greater understanding of the business design and model of large corporations however, as someone who is very focussed towards the technical side, there wasn’t too much I could take away to apply.

The insight was overall very structured and organised. It was very useful to have an agenda ahead of time to give an understanding of what I would be doing during my time during the week. As someone who finds it difficult to not follow and schedule, I felt timings could have been a lot more regimented than they were but I understand with the level of coordination required that is not always possible.

For the most part this was a very fun and enriching environment. It was great to be surrounded by like minded people and all of the technical people and coordinators were very genuine and kind people, something which massively took the edge off things. I’m glad it wasn’t an overly professional environment and I felt that really helped overall.

Barclays made sure to give a full rundown of the company in general and gave training for professional development, understanding our personalities, team working abilities and a very good insight. I felt like I was being full included in what was happening and did not feel left out at any stage.

The work shadowing was a really good experience to see and speak to people who have gone on the path I am on and it was a really useful to be able to talk to them about their experiences and their recommendations for me as I hopefully move through this process.

All of the people we spoke to and who spoke to us felt very genuine and gave a real insight of what the company is like. I’m glad that we got that sense of honesty and it didn’t feel like we were being fed propaganda for the company. This really helped see the community feel and aspects especially of close knit teams.

It was very helpful for me to see the different aspects of the company and what can be done within it, however in order to get a full understanding of what it would be like to work in a corporate environment a week is not long enough especially without practical experience.

I was given £250 in order to cover my transport to the event and other payment requiring activities throughout the week. This was nice especially for me as I had to commute from home to the event so the payment fully covered how much I had to pay in order to make it to the event.

There were plenty of opportunities with two dedicated networking events on top of work shadowing. This was really good for getting to know the people, their background and what they recommended people did in order to get the most out of their life and more insight into the corporate world.

The networking evening was really good and interesting, however the main issue with it was the lack of food. As someone that commuted, I didn’t get to eat until 9 pm which I felt took away from my experience as a whole. The speed networking was very chilled out and a good environment to talk to experts and find out more.

We were given a small insight into what societies and events that take place around and inside the workplace. There could have been more but it was very useful to get an insight into the opportunities for those kind of things and it was encouraging that they exist in a corporate environment such as this.

It was a great experience and I would recommend it as an opportunity to see what the corporate would is really like. I wasn’t too sure what it was like going into the process but I was glad to find out it was a lot more relaxed than I was lead to believe.