Spring intern Review

I enjoyed it very much!! I learned a lot and now I've a much better understanding of what the Banking industry is like, as well as the Barclays culture particularly.

The atmosphere was very supportive - we were always encouraged to ask questions and it was clear that Barclays wanted to help us evolve. Seniors treated us as 'equals' in some ways - they were never patronising and that was a nice surprise! The fact that many of them emphasised a will of wanting us interns to stay at Barclays was quite pleasant.

Much more than I initially expected - HRs were truly there for us and they were very approachable people. They would always try their best to accomodate our needs. Whenever you needed something from someone - you could just write them an email and you would get a prompt (and often detailed) response.

In terms of the information I received, I believe it will not only assist me in my degree studies, but also in my understanding of the world as a whole. In terms of skills, I believe these will not only accompany me throughout my degree studies, but also throughout my work life.

It was very well structured, a wide variety of activities had been prepared for us - ranging from banking and markets case studies to a trading floor tour. I would suggest to have additional breaks (especially in between back-to-back long activities) to ensure that students remain engaged all throughout. As a whole, we made a very efficient use of the short amount of time the insight lasted for.

Overall, the spring insight was fun and enriching. There was obviously an element of tiredness -especially by the end of it (but i suppose that comes with the industry too!).

I would say that a big investment was made on us! Numerous seniors (busy people they are!) invested a couple of hours on us - on helping us better understand the industry and their jobs particularly.

Obviously , there's only so much we can get exposure to. Numerous full-time workers detailed what their day-to-day looks like, but even then, it is hard for us to imagine the 'big picture'. Also, routine can vary across the hierarchy - a junior's schedule is likely to be different to an MD's schedule.

Hugely - You cannot understand a company's culture by simply reading around its core values - you have to put those values to the test - and I have to say Barclays past the test with merit! Now that i've seen it in person, I'm more than confident that Barclays is by far one of the best workplaces there are in the banking industry - in terms of worker satisfaction.

The content was very valuable. I found the banking case study particularly useful because it enabled me to confirm that M&A is my real passion - without these kind of activities, you can never be sure that you will be fit for the job. To sum up, us interns need exposure - and Barclays provided this.

I haven't been paid or reimbursed yet, but Barclays agreed to do so, so i suppose its only a matter of time. I believe that the pay we get is more than fair, as well as Barclays' policy for reimbursing expenses.

At all times! We got about 4 networking hours in total only in the first day!

They were really helpful - we got to meet people from across many divisions and with all kinds of roles. Analysts, MDs, VPs - they were all there willing to help us out! Most of them were also happy for us to contact them via email - I was even able to ask one of them for advice regarding my debate topic!

We received a brief summary of some of the activities employees get involved in. Personally, I would've liked to know more about it - since I'm a person who's always looking for new stuff to get involved in. I would recommend to deliver a presentation about all the different kinds of activities (beyond female, LGTB and multicultural societies).

I would, especially to a friend who doesn't really know what industry she'd like to work in. At the very least, she'd be able to rule out banking if she felt it wasn't a good fit after learning all about the industry. She'd also get to network with many students - you never know when you might be needing a hand them!