Spring Intern - Operations at Barclays Review

I think that the insight was very useful and helpful especially if you would like to get more insight into the financial industry and get a better understanding of how things work in big companies like Barclays. It is an amazing experience with many presentations, talks and activities that are very beneficial to your development.

I think that throughout this spring insight program at Barclays, every person feels valued and is well taken care of, as for example, everyone gets the chance to give his own opinion about anything happening, gets the chance to ask questions and every person gets also to meet new people and to network during a specially organised event.

During this program, I feel that every person got full support especially during difficult times where you find yourself uncomfortable or when you have to do something you are not used to. For example, during the networking event, there were some persons who were very helpful by introducing us to new people and industry leaders.

As an engineer, I think that I definitely got a better insight into the financial industry and the different sectors implicated. Similarly, I got to develop new skills that I don't usually experience when I go to university or within my engineering background and which are very helpful for the future and in building my own personality.

Very well overall. There was a very large diversity of presentations, activities and tasks assigned that helped each one of us develop a particular skill or learn something new in relation to the financial industry, as well as well allocated times for lunch, break and in addition to the chance to talk with industry leaders and new graduates.

Good atmosphere, everyone was friendly and approachable and always readily available to help in the different situations encountered. Similarly, the different transaction cycle representatives were very kind and open to a lot of questions, which was really useful for us to get a better taste of the operations department and its associated challenges.

Overall, I feel that the company did give a good chance to everyone enrolled in this program to get as much information and personal development as possible, not only in terms of learning new things and knowledge but also in terms of personal development, leadership, skills and building your own personality.

I think that the main thing that I learnt from this insight program is what it looks like to be working in a big company like Barclays, and having to deal with daily issues and challenges and how to potentially overcome them. The presentations that were given and the activities organised contributed to it.

During the spring insight week, we had the chance to get to know better about the company culture, how it works, and especially understand what values in terms of work ethics and relationships make it stand out from others and are fundamental in the context of working in this company.

As already mentioned, each day was very different from the other with new topics covered, useful presentations and insight sessions organised to get a better taste of what it feels like working in a company like Barclays. The networking event and the work shadowing experience were also very useful in this context.

I was paid for the week and the travel expenses were also reimbursed.

Definitely. I think that networking and meeting new people was at the centre and core of the insight program since we had multiple opportunities to meet new people, chat with business and industry leaders and ask them a lot of questions regarding the Operations department and what it feels like working at Barclays.

The networking and social events were very nice and beneficial: every person had the chance to ask questions about any particular topic, but also to chat with others which is particularly useful in order to get a better insight about what it feels like working in this company and facing regular challenges.

I did find out about some activities that employees can get involved in outside of work, such as seminars and financially related activities programs organised outside of Barclays but also leadership and other extra-curricular activities that might be of very much importance in the context of living a healthy life and acquiring new beneficial skills.

I would definitely recommend this insight to a friend, as it was an amazing opportunity to learn a lot more about operations and Barclays, but also to meet new people, develop your personality and network with local employees which were all very useful in terms of making a decision regarding your possible future career.