Technology Spring Intern Review

I really enjoyed, it was much better than I expected it to be.

Since it seemed like they had invested so much time and money into us, we definitely felt valued.

This is one of the best points of being a spring intern. We were given so much guidance in so many different things. From more general things, such as presentation and interview skills, to being told about all the different jobs in tech at Barclays, so that we could make an informed decision.

I don't think they are particularly relevant to my degree, except for maybe presentation degrees and structuring a group project etc. But it was all relevant to any future job I may hold.

The structure was pretty good. Every day was different, but they all consisted of a work shadowing (4 for tech people), some sort of workshop (networking, interviewing), lectures on tech (big data, open source), networking opportunities/time to meet employees, and also group project working time.

The atmosphere for the tech cohort was definitely different from both the others at Barclays, as well as other companies. Since there were only 14 in tech (compared to 51 in front office and 19 in functions), we all got to know each other very well and have built lasting relationships. My flatmate who was in functions mentioned it was a more stressful and competitive week for them. In tech, there wasn't a lot of competition between us. Everybody in the programme was nice though. We also came across spring interns at other companies during the week who said there weeks were quite intense.

It was evident that they were interested in our development and wanted to see us back at Barclays, which is why if we did well in the spring week, we were fast tracked to interviews (motivational and technical) for the summer internship, the week after.

It was great to meet so many people who worked at Barclays (we met 20 in the first two days). They all worked in different parts of tech and in different parts of the bank. I had no idea there were such a wide range of tech jobs at Barclays. We had work shadowing everyday which allowed us to experience the work environment in different offices and teams. The shadowings involved a lot of talking however and not as much of actually seeing their day to day jobs.

This was one thing which was strongly reinforced throughout the week. Barclays, especially when compared to other banks, has a great company culture. It was what drew me to their spring week in particular and it seemed to be the reason so many graduates chose Barclays and why people chose to stay for a lot of years. Everyone is very friendly and willing help you out, as many of the graduates explained. They are also very supportive if you want to try out different roles within Barclays, as almost every employee I met had moved around.

It was very valuable in the sense that I was able to pinpoint the jobs I was definitely interested in and those I definitely didn't want to do, as tech at Barclays is so huge.

Our travel expenses to London were paid for, we are given great accommodation in Canary Wharf, breakfast and lunch was provided and we were given £250 to pay for anything else (e.g. dinner, other small expenses during the week, but most of us barely used this).

Networking was another main focus during the week. There was one main networking evening for which we were given training beforehand, there we were also given some business cards and had to opportunity to meet with senior business reps from every division. Work shadowing and talks allowed us to again meet employees and graduates every day.

The networking evening didn't seem to be as beneficial for the tech people as it was for the front office and functions.

Not really.

Definitely! It was so informative and also fun, plus I met some great people I hope to keep in touch with.