Internship Review at Barclays Corporate

The Role

Role Description

I was based in the regional office in Milton Keynes, but also spent around 2 days a week in the head office in London. I had a really good opportunity to experience both offices and spend some time out visiting clients. I assisted the team by creating/developing the material that they use when visiting clients and also carried out some research on the sector that they specialise in.

1. To what extent did you enjoy your work placement or internship?

★★★★★★★★★☆

Rated 9/10

The internship at Barclays Corporate has been a brilliant opportunity to see what it would be like to work in the banking industry and also to see if I would be suited to the culture. However, I did have some negative views of what I thought it would be like to work in corporate banking but I was pleasantly surprised that this wasn't the case. Everybody has been incredibly helpful and even the most senior directors are more than willing to spare their time to talk with you so you can ask any questions about their career or the area that they work in.

2. To what extent did you feel valued by your colleagues?

★★★★★★★★★☆

Rated 9/10

I was immediately made to feel very welcome and was introduced to the whole team. Everybody was very helpful and keen to answer the questions that I had.

3. To what extent were you given support and guidance by management/your supervisor(s)?

★★★★★★★★★☆

Rated 9/10

The support that is given to you is fantastic. Your progress is discussed regularly and feedback is given to help you further develop your skills.

4. How busy were you on a daily basis?

★★★★★★★★☆☆

Rated 8/10

There were times when I didn't have that much to do and then times when I was really busy but this is what work is. It is down to how you manage your time that can make this easier.

5. How much responsibility were you given during your placement?

★★★★★★★★☆☆

Rated 8/10

The work that I carried out was very important to the team here. It will be given directly to the clients that they visit and so needed to be of the highest quality. Additionally, I helped my line manager forecast his yearly figures by pulling information from a range of programmes.

6. To what extent did/will the skills you developed, and training you received, assist you in your degree studies and beyond?

★★★★★★★★★★

Rated 10/10

Thinking back to the 8 weeks that I have spent here with Barclays, I can't believe how my approach has changed to a variety of tasks. Not only were we given extensive training on presentation/communication, we also looked at Financial Markets, Project Management and had specialists from other areas of Barlcays Corporate talk to us about how the work can vary from accross the company. The quality of this training was incredibly high and the skills that we have all taken away from the sessions will be used in our degrees and whichever career we choose to take.

The Organisation

7. What was the general atmosphere in your office?

★★★★★★★★☆☆

Rated 8/10

From my point of view this is a difficult one to judge. Having spent time in both the head office and a regional office, the atmosphere is very different in each. The head office is a great place to work and located in Canary Wharf. Despite the fact that it's a very nice building with incredible facilities, I found it easier to work in the regional office. Everybody seemed a little more down to earth and easier to approach - having said that, I never had any major issues contacting anybody at head office either.

8. How well organised was the overall work placement or internship set up?

★★★★★★★★★☆

Rated 9/10

The whole process was very well organised and we were regularly updated on what was happening that week. I did feel that there could have been more information given to us before the internship started, although I appreciate there probably wasn't that much to say but maybe just to confirm that everything is still all ok.

9. In terms of personal training and development, to what extent did the company or firm invest in you?

★★★★★★★★★☆

Rated 9/10

Barclays really invested in us over the summer. As I mentioned earlier, we spent several days receiving training on a variety of areas. We were also given time by senior executives and directors to talk through what we were doing throughout our internship. They held breakfasts and presentations so that we had a good opportunity to speak with them.

10. What were the perks on your work placement?

★★★★★★★★☆☆

Rated 8/10

• Subsidised Canteen
• Subsidised/Company Gym
• National Travel
• Company Parties/Events

11. How appealing are future employment prospects within the organisation?

★★★★★★★★★★

Rated 10/10

Barclays' internship programme gives you a great opportunity to find a more permanent role within the compan as they use their internship to fill many of their graduate places.

Other Information

12. Was there a good social scene amongst any fellow placement students/colleagues?

★★★★★★★★★★

Rated 10/10

We had some great events organised for us by Barclays but then also organised our own events - this ranged from nights out with other interns (occassionally with other colleagues too), dragonboat racing, or a meal with our project group. The social side was brilliant.

13. What was the cost of living and socialising in the area you worked in?

★★★★★★★★☆☆

Rated 8/10

Again, this is split over 2 different areas. I lived in Milton Keynes during the programme although didn't go out too much there as I was often visiting friends at weekends.
MK: much cheaper than London for both living and socialising
London: much better for socialising but obviously more expensive. Wider variety of bars/clubs/restaurants. Although we did stumble across a couple of interesting pricelists in places - 6 shots for £36 was a shock.

14. What was the Nightlife like in the area you worked?

★★★★★★★☆☆☆

Rated 7/10

Again, this hugely varies between the two.
MK: quite a strange city and I still can't really work it out. It does have quite a few nice bars and an Oceana, which is always welcome. But there's no comparing it to London.
London has everything you can think of. The bars that we went to are all really nice as are the clubs.

15. Were there many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work?

★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Rated 3/10

In the head office there seems to be lots of opportunities to get involved with sports and other activities. In MK I haven't heard of anything so again it's hard to say.

In addition to these questions, is there any extra information you would like to leave about your experiences on your work placement that other students may be interested in?

The fact that the brand was that well known initially made me question whether I wanted to get involved with a company that I hadn't heard that much about. I've since found out how new Barclays Corporate is and the massive investment that is going into their recruitment process and internship programme.

Review 31/37 for Barclays Corporate

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