Futures Clearing Developer (Intern) Review

I really enjoyed the internship in the Technology division in Barclays. It gave me a great insight into what my future career would entail, and I found that a role such as the one I was in is definitely something I can see myself doing in the long term. I was offered many great opportunities on the internship such as meeting Directors and learning sessions which were very helpful.

I felt very valued by my colleagues, they regularly invited me to lunch and birthday events that occurred during the internship. They also gave me work which seemed quite important which made me feel even more valued.

I had constant communication with my managers. Whenever I had a problem, they were always there to give me guidance and we set formal meetings which were held on a weekly basis to see how I was finding the internship and the work load.

The workload I was given was slightly heavy which provided me with a challenge to get my work done. However, I had enough time to set meetings with other employees in roles that I was interested in

I was given a fair bit of responsibility on my placement as I was set a project where I needed to communicate with the clients and I was given some freedom to put my own spin on what I wanted the software to do.

The skills I developed were really helpful and I can see them assisting me throughout my career. The initial training helped me to develop my own personal brand, I was able to see what life would be like in a professional setting and my technical skills were vastly improved.

The atmosphere was very good in the office. During the day everyone would get on with their work however there was room to have a conversation with colleagues around. Also on most days of my placement, the team I was in would usually go for lunch together which was great.

The internship was very organised from both the HR side and from the team I was in. HR had set up a timetable of events from talks to learning sessions which were set up from before. My manager had also planned what work I would be given and who would be supervising me throughout the placement.

The first week of the placement was training where I developed my personal brand, excel skills and gain a better understanding of the financial world. This was very helpful to have before going to my desk. Throughout the placement I was also given training on technical skills from graduates and talks from senior members on the different areas in Technology. There was the opportunity to complete online raining modules as well.

Very appealing as I enjoyed my time on the placement a lot, Barclays is definitely a place where I can see myself. After taking the internship, I was given the opportunity to be fast-tracked to a graduate position which I am really looking forward to. Here, I will be able to rotate and learn more about different roles in technology.

Yes because the training was mixed of interns and graduates from all divisions so I was able to get to know people outside of technology. There were talks held by HR so I saw all of the technology interns regularly and we often had lunch together. There were socials held by HR halfway through the internship and at the end where people from all divisions could socialise.

Being based in Canary Wharf,it was expensive. I am from London so I didn't have rent costs however travel was pricey.

Central London nightlife was just a couple of tube journeys away but there are a lot of bars in Canaray Wharf.

There were many networks where employees can socialise and perhaps play a sport or something. Often people may go out together after work.