Spring week at Barclays Review

I really enjoyed the insight week as it gave me a clear, enriching experience into the world of banking. During this week I met a lot of different people from different backgrounds and I made many friends. I realised that banking is for me and this really opened up my eyes to the world of banking and the different divisions within Barclays.

I did feel valued during my time at the company to a great extent, because we were well looked after in every sense. Lunch being paid for was a really kind gesture. The attention we were given on an individual and personal level was great as well, and I think the size of the group (only around 30 people) really helped me feel valued.

The support was immense during the insight week, and the human relations people were always there for us, guiding us and giving us advice. From the building tour to the one to one sessions at the end of the week where we were provided with advice was really useful in gaining valuable support.

I developed skills in teamwork and collaboration, as well as communication as I was constantly networking and meeting new people, from spring interns to shadowing other bankers higher up in the firm. I also developed leadership because in many team projects I took the lead. I really enjoyed developing such skills and Barclays was great in developing them.

The week was very well structured and the agenda was well organised. We got told the agenda in advance which was very useful in giving us an idea of what we would be doing the next day. We had sufficient time for lunch and breaks also which was great and gave us time to breathe.

The general atmosphere was very relaxed but also very on focused. I enjoyed the environment because everyone was very friendly and swret, and I met a lot of great people. Yet at the same time everyone was very driven so the teamwork projects were collaborative and focused in getting the job done.

They invested in us a lot by taking risks and money in paying for us. But it feels good to know that they have faith behind us. They all seemed incredibly supportive and positive of us. By investing in our time here they really helped us develop personally and gain many new skills in different areas.

The insight week provided me with a clear view into what working at Barclays would be like. By being able to speak to people who work there, from 2018 interns to current graduates doing their rotations, I got a clear idea of how working here is. But I think we could have gotten to network with people more higher up, that would have been a good opportunity.

The culture was really nice and I got a clear idea of it during my spring week at the company. Not only is it friendly and relaxed but it is also very supportive and positive of its employees. It does not care about face time but cares more about genuine effort and achievement in the jobs done and is very meritocratic.

The experience at a barclays was very useful in figuring out my future career path because I hope to get fast streamed onto the internship programme and following that get a job here. I really want to work here and have decided that it is for me so that is now my job aspiration.

It was very nice of Barclays to reimburse our expenses. I was reimbursed for travel expenses as well as lunch costs. This was very useful because London prices are often extortionate so it really helped out. It really helped me see the benefits of working here and I am sure I want to now

Although there were opportunities to network amongst our peers and to meet younger people who work within the firm I would have appreciated the change to network with more higher up people as meet them. this is because I feel that it is valuable to have both and old and young perspective of work and Barclays.

I would have liked the chance to meet people across all spring week divisions in order to mix with more people my age and make the most out of connections. In addition it would have been nice for the spring week to organise certain events for us after work, or something along those lines.

Unfortunately I did not really get an idea, and this opportunity would have been very beneficial and useful. Although we learnt about life skills, I did not find this useful in any way as this was aimed at small children rather than people our age. More networking etc would have been useful to find out about such things.

I would definitely recommend this insight week to a friend because it was really valuable and gave me many new skills including teamwork and collaboration. I also gained in leadership and meeting new people and communication. it really gave me a valuable insight into life at this bank and on this career.