Barclays discovery programme Review

The programme is composed of 2 days. The first day involved learning about Barclays' company culture and the qualities they look for in candidates. There was an interactive session where we learned about our social styles and how to interact with those who have different social styles to us. The first day ended with general guidance about the assessment process the following day. Day 2 was an assessment centre and interview day. I had prepared a case study presentation a week in advance and this was followed by an interview about how I aligned with the company values

I learned about my personal social style and some of the triggers of other social styles as well as the best ways to interact with them. We were also given an insight into the different roles in the graduate programmes and the skills required to excel in them. I developed my presentation skills when I had to prepare for my case study. I also developed my quick thinking skills during the interview when I got unexpected questions.

It was very insightful to have talks from people right from interns to managers. I really enjoyed the session where we were taught about all the skills and values that barclays value the most in a candidate and a colleague. Hearing some of the case studies the graduates worked on was also very enjoyable. I wish the programme lasted longer than a day however as I felt the interview the next day was very hasty and rushed.

Everyone who spoke seemed nice and passionate about what they do. Unfortunately due to the high intake of around 500 candidates, I found it hard to get a chance to ask questions and interact with the speakers a bit more. I felt like I was attending a conference and think that there would've been more care and attention if the event had been in the office. It felt like the pandemic was taken advantage of by having a programme so large.

Overall the day started of very insightful and enthusiastic but as the day progressed I got quite bored and the sessions weren't interactive enough. The fact that there were over 500 people on the call made it easy for me to get distracted and lose attention. Not enough was done to ensure we were all engaged in the process. The second day was very stressful and I found it quite difficult to prepare without enough guidance.

No

I would recommend for anyone else applying to be extremely aware of the news and how the role they are applying for is doing in the moment. There is nothing more impressive than mentioning news stories that are relevant. It will also help massively with the case study process. In terms of early application, numerical reasoning test practice and situational judgement test practise would be very useful and these are the initial stages where weak candidates are dropped immediately.