Front Office Spring Intern Review

Barclays Front Office Spring Week was exceptionally insightful. Within 4 days, I probably learned more than I did in the past 4 months at university. It was made particularly enjoyable by integrating many different group exercises and case studies that were conducted by senior members at the bank. Overall, there was an immense amount of learning that took place over the course of 3 days.

One of the elements of Barclays Investment Bank that stood out was the culture of the bank. Part of that culture included the approachability of everyone at the firm, from bankers at analyst level up till MD level. HR did a great job at making the environment as friendly and welcoming as possible for the incoming interns, by taking continuous feedback during intervals.

Guidance and support wasn't only provided during the program but even before the program started: this was through Barclays' buddy program in which an analyst would reach out to one of us and provide mentorship, guidance, and support well beyond just the material of banking. During the week itself, we were guided quite well by senior bankers at the firms and graduates at analyst level.

I received an immense fundamental knowledge of financial services and financial markets that would make for good conversation even outside of finance, as well as soft skills such as team work, enhancement in leadership, analytical skills, and commercial awareness. All of these skills will be essential in moving forward with any career, regardless of industry.

The structure was very well thought out and prepared beforehand - the timetable was given to us beforehand as well. The structure also saa good transitions between sessions, for example, initiating with industry overviews from seniors and then moving onto a day in the life of analysts, followed by networking lunches, and eventually concluding at group work case studies.

The atmosphere in general was extremely friendly and welcoming, as I mentioned before as well. From the day of onboarding till the very end, HR had been of a lot of help and the same attitude followed the senior and different members of the bank as well. It seemed that Barclays really did mean it when they mentioned they do emphasize on their values.

I was also provided accommodation during my time at Barclays Spring Week, even though I was London-based. This was because my student accommodation contract expired during Spring Break and I really appreciated Barclays making sure I got a place to stay. We were also reimbursed for our travel expenses with a one-off payment.

Through networking lunches everyday, with a varying number of employees ranging in seniority. Members delivering sessions were also open tk networking after the sessions. There was a networking opportunity through the Buddy program, through different overview sessions as well. There was a senior networking event where there were MD's that were openly interacting with 1st year University students in a very open and approachable manner.