Technology Spring Intern Review

I thoroughly enjoyed the insight week. It was a great opportunity and I am glad I applied to it.

I felt really valued during my time at the company. We got to meet and talk to many people across a range of areas of technology including many senior employees. We also had work shadowing opportunities which was a nice opportunity to see what the work actually looked like.

There was a lot of guidance and support offered in the insight. The recruiting team were happy to help with any issue. The speakers, most of whom were very senior members of the organisation e.g. managing directors, were happy to answer any questions during their talks and even stayed behind to answer any other questions people had. Also, we had a work shadowing opportunity, and the people I was shadowing offered a lot of useful and honest advice when it came to working at Barclays.

The stuff I learned does not really relate to my degree so I feel like it won't benefit me in my degree studies. However, the career advice I received and exposure to such a range of areas of technology will definitely help further down in my career.

It was well structured and we took part in a range of activities and visited both Barclays offices in Canary Wharf. The only improvement I can think of is adding more networking sessions or work shadowing.

The atmosphere was very relaxed. Everyone, ranging from graduates to managing directors, was very friendly and approachable. The other students were also very collaborative and the insight week was genuinely a nice place to be.

We had a leadership and followship training session with an external company. The recruiters also did a session on CV writing, interviews and personal brand. The recruiters also provided one-to-one CV reviews and advice if we wanted it. Finally, there were work shadowing sessions in which the employees I shadowed provided great personal development advice.

The work shadowing sessions gave a good insight into what it is like to work full time for the company.

The company values and culture were reiterated often throughout the insight programme and within the building, the main values were written on every floor of the offices. Talking to the graduates and senior employees also gave a good understanding of the company culture.

The range of areas of technology covered in the sessions helped me understand the range of roles offered by the company. The talks offered by the senior employees made me more aware of several potential career paths which I originally didn't think of and the work shadowing sessions helped as with this as well.

Travel expenses were reimbursed. Food costs were also reimbursed. We were also paid £250.

There was a networking evening where we got to talk to a range of graduates and senior employees and there was a senior speed networking session where we had about 10 minutes to talk to senior employees. There were also many talks where we could ask questions during the talk or we could talk to the person giving the talk in private after they finished giving the talk. There were also work shadowing sessions where we got to talk to graduates for about 90 minutes.

The networking opportunities were good. Perhaps, there could have been more networking events.

One of the employees mentioned sports activities that they are involved with. Another mentioned the range of networks within the company.

Definitely. It was a great experience and I would 100% recommend the insight to a friend.