Student Review

I enjoyed the insight week to a certain extent. I found it enjoyable to interact with similar-minded people who were interested in banking and found it insightful to meet employees who discussed a wide variety of details from the culture at the bank to the technical details of certain details.

I didn't feel especially valued because although we did meet employees who were really interested in giving us an insight at the bank, the work shadowing was subpar as we had limited time with them and some of the presentations were generic and a waste of time.

There was quite a lot of support as the HR representatives themselves were quite detailed about the recruitment process for the summer internship which I found useful and the employees were happy to answer any questions we gave them.

I believe there will be some benefit in the future as I have developed some knowledge about the more technical details in banking such as DCFs and the process for M&A transactions. Additionally, there was a presentation on presentation skills which was basic but reiterated some important points.

It was structured quite well as there was a tight schedule during the day but I think that in some aspects it wasn't because with the work shadowing, it seemed as though the employees were given limited details about what the work shadowing involved so that there was an apparent disparity in how detailed /insightful each work shadowing session was.

Personally, I thought the atmosphere between the spring interns and the employees was on amicable terms as the HR reps seemed quite nice and were willing to help us but with regard to the atmosphere amongst the spring interns, it seemed quite cutthroat and it was clear that some people started to build a hate for one another.

There was a decent amount of training invested in me as a Spring Intern because they actually cared enough to get senior employees to give talks. HR seemed genuinely interested in us so that was nice.

It was quite helpful. Again, the work shadowing and networking sessions gave us a taste but as these sessions themselves were quite limited in a number of ways, they weren't too useful in this area.

Helped a ot. Learnt about the 5 values at Barclays of Respect, Integrity, Service, Excellence and Stewardship which the HR team placed a real emphasis on. Plus, when talking to employees, they also emphasised these very values, suggesting these values play a big part of the Barclays culture,

Very helpful. Initially, I wanted to go into IBD but having had the spring week, I think that I would much rather want to go into a more analytical role such as Equity Research or perhaps consulting instead as it would much better fit my personality and interests.

I was paid £250 and reimbursed for my travel expenses from my home to London.

Limited. Main networking session was 2 hours long and was constructed to be a purely competitive environment; we were given only 5 business cards each and we were told that through networking with employees at the event and giving them our business card, they would recommend those of us who they thought were the best. Unimpressed.

Networking sessions seemed rushed. Drinks event itself was only 2 hours long and there was a mix of people from Front, Middle and Back office which diluted the pool of people you were interested in talking to. Moreover, other networking sessions were 5-10 minutes long with each representative so wasn't great.

No. Very little information given. When asking about work-life balance, employees did mention that it was tolerable but did not mention things like community work or hobbies outside of work.

Yes. Although the programme had its flaws, I believe I was still somewhat enjoyable and it would be worth going to learn about investment banking and Barclays too. Plus, the very experience will be a nice boost to my application for applying to summer internships next year.