Front Office Spring Week Intern Review

Best week so far, got to learn everything about an investment bank through presentations, panel discussions and networking events! Besides that, I was also very fortunate to meet so many passionate people who love what they do and really enjoy their work even though it can be quite stressful at times.

I had fantastic support from my peers, the HR and representatives from different banking and markets divisions that I met during networking events. People working at Barclays that I've spoken to were very helpful in explaining what they do on a daily basis and the skills required to enter the division.

Very well structured I would say. We kicked off the first day of the Spring Week with tons of team building exercise, personal skills development and some introductory presentations as a way to break the ice. The following two days were then focused on helping us understand the banking and markets division in an investment bank respectively. With a deep understanding of all the divisions and opportunities available in Barclays, we were given a form to list our preference and were interviewed by representatives from the division that we chose.

Before starting the Spring Week, I was expecting a really serious and corporate environment. However I actually ended up having so much fun because everyone were incredibly supportive, friendly and genuine and they really want to help you become the best version of yourself and help you find the career path that suits you.

I wholeheartedly agree that Barclays invested heavily in helping us develop personally. For instance, we had a presentation skills work shop "Speaking Persuasively Skills Session" where we were taught different styles of speaking, how to communicate our idea across the room effectively and so on. Besides that we also had an interactive team building session to teach us about working in a group with people of different personality and way of thinking.

After 4 insight days in the bank, I managed to develop great understanding of the working life in a bank through participating in all the fantastic event planned by the HR. For instance, I got to learn about what the different divisions do on a day to day to basis and the support you will receive from senior staffs of the bank.

The 4 days insight really helped me understand Barclays openness, inclusive and supportive culture immensely. For instance we had a diversity panel that introduce us to the different initiative by Barclays that you could join outside of work. One of them was called EMBRACE, a network that aims to educate colleagues about the importance of embracing and promoting a multicultural workplace and provide colleagues and managers with the tools and knowledge they need to confidently tackle stereotypical thinking wherever they find it.

We had plenty networking opportunities where we had the opportunity to meet people across all divisions of the bank of different seniority ranging from analysts to the Managing Directors and Vice President of the investment bank. The different perspectives gave us many insights and thorough understanding of working life at Barclays.

It was very helpful in helping us understand the working culture at Barclays, their roles in the division that they work in

Yes! Barclays have many incredible initiatives and network based on ther five global pillars of focus: Disability, Gender, LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender), Multicultural and Multi-generational that you can participate outside of work. To name a few are the Women's Initiative Network, EMBRACE and Spectrum! All these fantastic network aims to It was very helpful in helfoster a culture where individuals of all backgrounds feel confident in bringing their whole selves to work, feel included and their talents are nurtured, empowering them to contribute fully to Barclays vision and goals.

Definitely!