This review was submitted over 4 years ago, so some of the information it contains may no longer be relevant.
Rating
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The Role
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The Company
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The Culture
- 1. To what extent did you enjoy your work placement or internship?
- 2. To what extent did you feel valued by your colleagues?
- 3. To what extent were you given support and guidance by management/your supervisor(s)?
- 4. How busy were you on a daily basis?
- 5. How much responsibility were you given during your placement?
- 6. To what extent did/will the skills you developed, and training you received, assist you in your degree studies and beyond?
- 7. What was the general atmosphere in your office?
- 8. How well organised was the overall work placement or internship set up?
- 9. In terms of personal training and development, to what extent did the company or firm invest in you?
- 10. What were the perks on your work placement?
- 11. How appealing are future employment prospects within the organisation?
- 12. Was there a good social scene amongst any fellow placement students/colleagues?
- 13. What was the cost of living and socialising in the area you worked in?
- 14. What was the Nightlife like in the area you worked?
- 15. Were there many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work?
The Role
I very much enjoyed my summer internship as it was very well organized, enabled me to learn a lot of things and network within Barclays.
My colleagues were supportive and tried to get me involved in projects that they thought I would find interesting. Also whenever I had a question or was uncertain about something I felt comfortable asking for their help, as long as they were not very busy, and they were happy to help.
From day one I had very clear goals set by my line manager and during the course of the internship I was given the support necessary to meet these goals from all the members of my team.
On a daily basis I was busy enough with the projects set out for me from the beginning of the internship. Most of the time I also had some spare time which I tried to fill with either shadowing people from other teams to learn more about what they did or by arranging one-on-one meetings with directors and MDs (during the internship all interns had to arrange a minimum of 6 such meetings)
I felt that I was given enough responsibility especially in some projects were I had to collect data and prepare presentations that many people attended. I feel that perhaps I could have been given a bit more responsibility since I managed to finish all my projects before the end of the internship.
The skills I developed didn't not assist me in my studies very much but will definitely assist me in my career. The most useful thing I've learned was the importance of networking within the firm and I believe that because of the meetings I had to arrange with many senior people of the firm I got quite good at it.
The Company
Most of the time it was quite busy cause I was on the trading floor and I could here people "screaming" prices and phones ringing constantly but because it was summer I think it was as busy as during the rest of the year
It was very well organized. From day 1 all interns were given by their line manager a set of goals and before the end of the internship we had to official appraisals to assess our progress. Also we had the chance to attend several networking events outside of work which gave us the opportunity to meet and interact with colleagues in a more informal setting
Before the start of the internship we had to complete some online training on financial markets, which was very helpful and at the beginning of the internship we had a 3-day class based training. During the internship we had access to all of Barclays research which I found to be a great source of information and learning tool.
Company Parties/Events
I got offered a job in Rates Sales starting in February 2013
The Culture
I think that the social/networking events were very helpful in getting to know each other amongst the interns.
I feel it was about right, maybe a bit on the expensive side but it was worth it.
I worked at Canary Wharf and usually with the rest of the interns we hanged out at pubs nearby and on Friday nights if we wanted to go to a club we went towards Soho and Covent Garden
Yes there were many sports as well as networking societies that you could join in order to get a bit more involved and meet more people from the firm
Details
Internship (1 Month+)
Commercial Banking, Sales
London
September 2012