Marketing Summer Analyst Review

The work during my placement was very enjoyable and Barclays did their best to make sure that my days were varied and that I had experience with as much of the business as possible. During my internship, I got to work on Barclays social networking accounts, including onsite at BBST, as well as form reports on Barclaycard organic social media as well as reports on competitors. This meant I got to enjoy both creative and analytical work, which made my days interesting.

My colleagues made sure to make me feel valued, giving positive feedback as well as always being open to giving me advice and spending time to help me. However, the extent to feeling valued is limited, since often the work I was assigned was simple, short tasks, but this was not the fault of the colleagues, but a natural part of the internship due its length.

My line manager was extremely supportive. Early on, she arranged meetings for me so that I gained a knowledge of the team I was working with and throughout the internship, continued to invite me to meetings that she thought would be interesting and insightful. She would assign me tasks regularly and be quick to respond to emails.

The work fluctuates greatly day to day, which is natural within marketing. The week leading up to BBST was much busier than the week after, as preparations had to be made and information/data to analyse was not immediately available. However, Barclays did make sure that I had 2-3 mandatory training sessions a week, which helped fill up the time.

For the tasks I was doing, I was allowed to perform them independently, with approval sometimes required at the end stage. However, these tasks weren't of high importance due to the short length of the internship so I wasn't allowed to have as much responsibility simply as I could not get involved with long-term activity.

Barclays supplies a marketing academy on the Intranet, with a lot of information about marketing trends, channels, etc. This was extremely useful for building up knowledge about marketing. I also developed skills in using certain software, including Sprinklr, which will be of use if I choose to go into marketing later.

The floor I worked on was Barclaycard, which was an extremely lovely environment. It was much more casual than other areas within Barclays. The atmosphere is very social and friendly, with people knowing their colleagues well and putting in the effort to know people on more than just a colleague level.

Compared to all other placements I applied for, Barclays had the quickest and clearest feedback - they never delayed in informing me about the next steps. There was some delay in informing us about what we were expected to do in the first week, but this was cleared up as the time approached. Meetings arranged for interns by Barclays all worked out and were useful.

There was very little that Barclays had to invest in me. A lot of the learning was independent, such as arranging meetings with Directors (though this was encouraged!). The main investment was time from Line Managers to make sure that we were progressing and had work to do, as well as more senior Heads who spent 1 hour with us explaining their roles.

Barclays does a mid and full term review, and the results of these determine whether you would be given a graduate placement (which you will be informed about the week after the internship is finished). This is very appealing as Barclays has been very supportive and keen to make sure that interns progress.

The first day was an induction where interns were given the chance to meet each other and sometime to chat, as well as having team building exercises. Barclaycard arranged a social event the first week of the internship, so I had time to meet and chat with other marketing interns. They then continued to offer these, occurring every 1-2 weeks.

Canary Wharf is expensive. I spent more than my accommodation allowance to live a 25 minute walk away from work (>£3000). However, Barclays subsidised the canteen and a Starbucks on the ground floor so I rarely spent more than £15 a day on food. Drinks can be expensive but at social events organised by Barclaycard, they were often free.

I don't know as I didn't attend any (most interns were exhausted working or had to commute). There are many bars in Canary Wharf though.

Barclaycard organised social invents including watching Wimbledon with strawberries and cream, evenings at bars with food and drinks and breakfasts with graduates. There were many opportunities, however it depends on your living situation during work (if you have to commute, many events took place after work so you'd be home late).