Technology Developer Summer Intern Review

I came in hoping to get a better understanding of Barclays, development in a corporate environment and to be challenged and I was always given the opportunity to develop the three goals. I always had something interesting and challenging to do, with help always at hand if I was stuck.

My manager was always close by, figuratively and literally, if I needed help or direction. I lent on my team mates for direction for the work I was assigned and they were always happy to answer a quick question or to point me towards someone who could answer the question. I was given objectives from the get-go so, together with Barclays values, I always knew what I should be aiming to do and how to do it.

Although the first two weeks were slower, there was always something to do once I hit my desk. As I (should have) expected, all the interns had to get their development environments set up (for the developers, others needed to get a better understanding of their team, customers and their role within Barclays at a minimum). Beyond that, there was never a dull moment.

In the first week I was informed I would be working on a project to automate a semi-automated process. While there were a variety of people I could go to for help, it was a project I was given responsibility for and the new process would go into production. With the great team around me, however, I never felt overwhelmed.

Academic Computer Science and Software Engineering is quite different from development within a large corporation. I'll definitely be able to take a new approach to development, use more C# design patterns and structure code better for maintenance and longevity. There is also a significant amount of financial knowledge I gained which would be of use if/when I go back into a financially-oriented company.

At least on my floor, the environment was always lively. Everyone has a great balance of focus and bonding with the team. There are calls an conversations nearby all the time and the floor is open plan, so the room is rarely silent, but it wasn't not distracting. The overall atmosphere is very inviting.

There were a few things that weren't ready once I arrived to join my team, such as assigned laptop, but otherwise it was a very well oiled ship. My project during the internship was laid out for me and any missing information or data was an opportunity to better understand their importance from other team members.

Barclays held regular Insight sessions, which were talks by senior staff about different areas of the bank, as well as their journeys through Barclays. These alone provide a great foundation to understand the core activities and structure of Barclays and banks generally. I also had the opportunity to organise and meet with directors within the bank to drill down into areas of the company where I personally wanted to get a better understanding. The entire internship is designed so I could get the most out of the company and the people within it.

Barclays is both breadth and depth for prospects. There are variety of technical roles I could go into across technology, including cloud, fintech and mathematically focused, data science, security, web, desktop to name a few. During and beyond the graduate scheme, there is a strong opportunity to move up the corporation into a managerial role (or more technically focused, which definitely interested me).

Interns were meeting for lunch, evening drinks and other events everyday. I didn't have any interns in my team, but you'll always bump into one in either of the Canary Wharf offices. They're always happy to discuss their roles and teams, what they've learnt and anything else, role-oriented or not, worth discussing. There were quite a few interns from the Spring Week, of which I was one, so I didn't have to start from 0.

I live in London, so commuted into the office, but it's London. You do have lots to do around you if one chooses to rent close to Canary Wharf, including a lot to do for free. But again, it's London.

This was an area I didn't take advantage of and definitely would have if my commute wasn't so long. There are communities and activities in pretty much everything, and if there isn't you could take it upon yourself to get it started. Separately, our intern cohort organised lots to do outside of work.