Operations Spring Week Intern Review

I enjoyed the variety of activities: interactive tasks, panel talks, work shadowing and the networking session. During the networking session, everyone was friendly and was willing to re-explain terms provided that the majority of people on this scheme were in their first year and many came from a non-finance background (myself included), this was readily welcomed which was very reassuring.

Each time I asked someone a question about their journey, role and future aspirations, they would go into great depth and apply it to the situation for a current student which really helped me to evaluate what more I could be doing. One of the sessions had an external speaker come in (who trains people on a graduate to CEO level) to develop our inter-personal skills. Naturally, I learnt about my preferred communication skills but I think that more importantly, I learnt how other individuals prefer to receive information and I had never considered that before.

I would argue that the instructions were informative enough so that when our cohort was left with time to complete the task, we were fully equipped to do so. During the work shadowing session, the Barclays employees would ask about our work and would kindly give tips which was kind.

The complexitiy of each transaction cycle was almost overwhelming! From this week, my balance with regards to attention-to-detail and assessing the overall picture has been challenged. This is applicable to my degree because the expected profession from my degree requires me to interact with other healthcare professionals. So if a patient presents a small symptom to one person, I expect to pick that up better and know to carry it forward.

Prior to the placement, we were directed to download an app that had the spring week programme listed on it. It was very detailed; location, duration and a short description of who and what to expect during each session. I found this extremely useful and it set the tone for the level of professionalism to expect at the bank.

Both the Barclays employees and the peers in my cohort were approachable and enjoyed learning about my journey and advised how I can continue to progress. People genuinely spoke highly of each other and felt welcome to be themselves which has made me more keen to secure a second internship at Barclays.

The range of people from various backgrounds (personally and academically) and different locations across Great Britain demonstrating how that you can still be a skilled individual representing Barclays in whichever city you call "home". When speaking to people, they were honest about their journeys and welcomed contacting them later if I had any additional questions which I greatly appreciated. I will definitely consider a full-time role with Barclays and I am welcome to learn more about other divisions too.

I have established a consolidated understanding of the bank's culture and key values - Respect, Integrity, Service, Excellence and Stewardship (which forms the acronym 'RISES' and is usefully presented across the walls in every meeting room). To me, this was particularly evident in the diversity and inclusion events and was often referred to when people would compare Barclays' culture to former working environments.

The spring week has showcased the level of complexity and how multidisciplinary the financial sector is. In the short-term, it also unveiled a new speciality that I never would have considered working for - Wealth Management. My next steps from this week will be to apply for their summer analyst role in that department

I started recommending this spring week to a friend by the middle of the week! Barclays set a great foundation for non-finance students; a great balance between learning the fundamental processes and challenging yourself to learn more about the sector (particularly during the week-long group project). The summer internship is offered in a variety of locations which I think is good because it challenges the thought that all financial work is based in London (which is not true!).