Spring Week Intern Review

I was participating in a range of activities – from shadowing Associates to participating in simulated trading games. I took part in many question and answer sessions by analysts and associates at the bank. The bank put on a lot of good presentations to give us an insight into what the different strands within the bank do and how they all fit together. I also got an insight into the types of clients that Barclays works with.

I learnt a lot about the different strands of a large investment bank such as Barclays. I learnt how to network with fellow students but also employees at all levels of seniority within the investment bank. There were plenty of workshops on Excel modelling which I found invaluable because it has given me knowledge of the specific functions that are used my analysts a lot throughout the investment bank. I also improved my confidence by simply gaining a place on the insight week.

It was really interesting. I understood all of the functions of the bank - from front office to back office and also the functions within these strands. For instance, in the front office there is investment banking, trading and sales, asset management whilst in the back office there is a lot of work in human resources, technology etc. I was interested to learn about how the various parts of the bank work together and what roles were available.

The company culture is great, about as good as an investment bank can offer. This is because the environment is inevitably going to be very stressful, with long working hours, and a role that is often considered to be harmful for society. There are charitable initiatives that the company involves itself in, as part of its wider corporate social responsibility, and we were encouraged to learn about them. There was a competitive yet friendly atmosphere among the workers.

I thoroughly enjoyed my insight week at Barclays. It was a great opportunity to see whether a large investment bank such as Barclays would be an ideal environment for me to work in. I was able to gain an understanding of what the different functions of the bank are – not just on the front end side of things but also on the back end side of things. I also interacted with many current employees to ask them how they find working there.

Yes

Try and research how Barclays differentiates itself from other investment banks. Being a primarily UK investment bank, most of its clients are from the UK and Europe. There are many connections with the London and Frankfurt Stock Exchange. I think that showing an understanding of what kind of environment Barclays operates in (an international environment) is also important because it shows that you are aware of the many different considerations analysts and associates have to take into account.