Summer Intern Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my internship here at Barlcays, it was very well organised. The experience and the knowledge I gained here is very special, and I very much hope that I can continue to work here in the Graduate Programme next year. I expecially enjoyed the exposure to the market I got during the programme, spending a lot of time with traders and salespeople who were willing to give up their time.

Colleagues were always willing to give up their time for me, even the more senior members of the floor. Setting up meetings with them was very easy, and it was very interesting to listen to their story and their views on the economy and Barclays. I received a lot of support from the HR and my team, making this experience an even more enjoyable one.

My line manager was always readily available, assisting me with any problems I had, however small or big. At Barclays, I was also assigned a mentor and a buddy whom I talked to regularly, who also gave me advice and tips to succeed in an Internship. In the second half of the internship, I was assigned a new line manager, whom was again very supportive.

From the very first day, I was given an information pack to read, about the products traded within my team, and was given a project to work on, whilst actively learning from the indivisual members of the team, shadowing them at appropriate times. In addition to this, I had an ongoing trade presentation to do bi-weekly, which my line managers attended.

Responsibilty is hard to be given as an intern on a trading floor for legal reasons, however I was able to assist my team within reason. However, having said that, the projects I was involved in was of use to the team, and therefore in that sense, I felt great responsibility to do very well in them.

Studying mathematics at University, I now feel a lot more confident in choosing a financial module for the rest of my university degree, as this is definitely the area that I would like to work in. Beyond my degree studies, I now have a strong passion for the finance industry, and so this experience has been very useful.

As the Trading floor is in the front line within a bank, it had a very distinctive atmosphere in the sense that traders sometimes got emotional, and reacted to news/trades with some aggression at times. However, this is the environment that I would love to work in, making very quick and precise decisions in a short period of time.

A lot of speeches and lectures were set up by the team here at Barclays, which were all very interesting and informative. It was well organised, and I firmly believe that the team here who organised the programmes put in a lot of effort into making this such an enjoyable and useful experience.

I believe that this is the area which Barclays can most impove in. I feel that more could have been done in terms of preparing the Interns before the event, and more time could be spent on personal training and development throughout the Internship. More lectures that they provided would be very much appreciated.

I very much hope that I have made a positive impression to the team, and I hope that there will be a place for me next year for the graduate programme. This is the career path that I would like to follow, and this step forward will be a big achievement for me. It seems that Barclays is very supportive of the employees here, and therefore I look forward to working with them.

Although my team personally did not have any social events, the Barclays HR team organised networking and social events. In addition to this, senior members hosted events in their own personal house, creating a more informal environment, whilst keeping it very professional.

Working in Canary Wharf may not be the best area in terms of cost, however this is fully funded by Barclays through the living allowance. However, the area is very nice, and easy to socialise in, having weekly drinks with the other interns near the office. As I live in London, it was only the travel cost that was expected.

London has great nightlife, although this was not a regular occurence working on the trading floor. Friday nights were common, howver nothing more.

I believe that this area could also be involved. Would like to have more activities outside of works which interns can join easily.