Technology Developer Intern Review

The Barclays summer internship was a fantastic learning experience and over the course of the 6 weeks (reduced from 9 due to COVID-19) I had the opportunity to work on many exciting tasks, while meeting some incredible people. The support network functions extremely well and my team and I were given meaningful projects with rewarding objectives. The recruitment team organized a constant stream of interesting speakers who widened my understanding of not only Barclays, but also the wider financial and technological world as a whole.

All Barclays employees that I encountered during my internship were really welcoming and were always on-hand to help out. The input of interns was not diminished whatsoever and we were regularly given opportunities to contribute where possible and there was a great feeling of respect between all colleagues. My manager, buddy and mentor provided constructive feedback and useful advice to help me achieve my objectives. My team and all fellow interns were great to work with.

With my manager there were weekly catchup sessions on a one to one basis in addition to the regular team catchups. This gave me an opportunity voice any concerns, ask for feedback and check up on progress towards objectives. There was also support and guidance available in the form of my mentor and buddy who were available to ask for extra help or advice on work. HR held weekly drop in sessions to provide more internship specific guidance.

Being given clear and challenging objectives at the start of the internship allowed myself and my team to engage in really rewarding work so we were never left without anything to do. The work felt meaningful and there was the right balance between being left to figure things out on our own and being given guidance where necessary. As the objectives were not overly simplified, there was always the potential to do more and learn more, so we were constantly kept occupied.

Due to the virtual nature of the internship this year, it would have been more difficult to give interns access to the appropriate resources. However, I was given a project that felt meaningful and provided a great learning experience. Every day I was exploring something new to me that I would not have been able to learn at university or in my own time. We were given direction but given the responsibility to choose our own way to do things.

During the internship I feel that I have gained valuable experience in the financial industry and have a much greater understanding of how a bank as large as Barclays functions. These skills will no doubt stay with me throughout my career, for example the communication skills I have picked up will help me talk with future senior colleagues. The industry specific knowledge has given me context for my degree studies and will motivate me for the remainder of my degree.

As the internship was virtual, we did not get to experience being in the office but there was clearly an effort by the recruitment teams to make the experience as enjoyable as possible. There were multiple team-building activities held online such as musical bingo and different quizzes. Within the team and people I worked with, everyone was really friendly and up for a chat. Fellow interns held networking events which helped to bridge the distance between virtual working.

The recruitment team did a great job, even though the internship was virtual and there were technical difficulties at times as a result. Many talks were organized for us and these were easy for us to join. The onboarding process was during a difficult period of time but was still very smooth. The initial period of the internship was faced with a few technical issues but these were resolved as quickly as possible and didn't take away from the experience personally.

There was a huge array of resources available to the interns in order to develop as an employee which could be done in our own time or as part of our work when relevant. It was clear from the amount of interesting talks that were scheduled that Barclays valued developing us and helping teach us as much as possible. There was also internal training available online which had a variety of different topics to learn about.

The graduate scheme program was made to sound very appealing and seems to be competitive with all of the other big banking organisations. There were many panels set up with former interns or current graduates that provided great insight into what exactly the future employment prospects are within Barclays so there was never any doubt as to what could be achieved. There is generally a very positive attitude towards recruiting interns and graduates which is appealing.

Due to the virtual nature of the internship, it was more difficult to get in touch and meet fellow interns. However, the recruitment team did provide networking sessions and we all had access to each other on email so there was definitely some networking that went on. There were also some events such as a charity fifa event that helped to network with different interns and during the work there were opportunities to work with other teams.

Yes, there were some charity events that we were invited to such as the fifa tournament which would be held outside of work. Due to the virtual nature of the internship, these opportunities were limited which is understandable and I think that Barclays did a good job considering the situation. There were also different talks going on that were sometimes outside of work hours so these would provide opportunities to get involved outside of work.