Summer Intern Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my internship and found it to be a fantastic opportunity to build up my network, learn more about Barclays and the wider industry within which the firm operates. I have enjoyed both the work and social aspects of the internship, have made friends with other interns and feel I blended into my team well.

I felt valued by my colleagues throughout my internship both in terms of them introducing me to other teams / parts of the bank by opening up their own personal networks, and the work they entrusted me with. I was given responsibility for the delivery of weekly reporting and from Day 1 had my own projects that enabled me to add value to the team - I certainly did not feel I was being made to do pointless 'intern' tasks. Furthermore my team invited me to their social events, making me feel less like an intern and more like a team member.

Both my team and HR were very supportive throughout my internship. I had a buddy within my team and a mentor given to me through the Women's network who were both incredibly supportive and helped me build a network, improve my work and make the most out of my internship. The Campus Recruiting team were also supportive and arranged catch-up sessions to check everything was okay, as well as organizing numerous learning sessions, senior-speakers and other events.

I was kept busy on a daily basis. I was given my own projects on Day 1 so I always had things to be working. In addition to this I also helped the team with as-hoc work and was invited to all meetings. In addition to the work given by team I was also kept busy through other events such as networking sessions and talks from people from around the bank of varying levels of seniority.

I was given a large amount responsibility during my placement. I took over the weekly reporting which was distributed to an MD and her senior leadership team. I was also given responsibility for ad-hoc work needed by team.

The networking skills I have developed will undoubtedly assist me in the future. The initial training we were given was thorough and a good basis for someone not coming from an economics/finance background!

The general atmosphere was upbeat and positive, everyone was extremely friendly and was willing to make time to take you through things. Furthermore there were lots of social events amongst interns and I had drinks with my team several times!

The internship was well organised, with initial training, catch-up meetings, mid- and end- reviews. Additionally presentations from all areas of the bank and learning sessions were provided on a bi-weekly basis in addition to several social events organised by the Graduate HR team

Barclays provided 2-days training in the first week of the internship, this included both soft-skills training, Barclays-specific training (e.g. values session) and also the basic of finance, economics and how a bank actually works. The latter was provided by an external consultancy company and provided a good grounding in preparation for joining the business. In terms of more personal training my team ensured I developed in all the areas I wanted and were able to point me in the right directions when I wanted to build other skills.

The future employment prospspects were definitely appealing as the internship acts as a 9-week interview for the grad scheme, which you can receive an offer for on your final day

Yes - groups of interns always had lunch together, and we went out for drinks as a big group every Friday after work!

London is always going to be expensive

London - so good!

Yes: Citizenship Challenge, Diversity Networks, social activities with team etc.