Finance Analyst Review

On this internship you could be placed in a variety of roles, mine entails working with interest rates to assess risk facing the bank. We work closely with technology to provide insights and create summaries of complex data as well as assisting with regulatory reporting. There is an opportunity to use SQL to run queries and retrieve data. Most days involve using excel to work with large sets of data and PowerPoint to present summarised versions. You will also participate in team meetings to learn more about the whole department as well as an intern team project.

Excel skills are heavily required in this role, whilst I had a fairly good knowledge of excel in the past, I hadn't used many functions for a long time but my team supported me to pick up the most important functions to my role. I also had time to do some research for myself to assist my abilities. I also have developed communication skills as the role relies on working with a wide ranging team, including a team in India so it is important to understand best practices of working virtually and reaching out for help. Perhaps most importantly, for someone who studies a finance degree, I discovered that I know hardly anything about banking and learnt non-stop during the internship!

I think that my manager hadn't known what exactly to expect from an intern and how much responsibility I was able to take on. However once I began to ask to get involved in project and they had an idea of my proficiency, I was handed projects that helped my development and was actually used in the team's work, not just side projects to practice on. For example I was tasked with creating a better format of presenting the data that they use to show top management.

My team were absolutely incredible! Always had spare time to help me out despite being very busy and there was always enough people around to answer any questions I had. I was also assigned both a grad buddy and a mentor who were both eager to help me out and give me advice. On top of that, by speaking to people who mentioned they had been interns in the past I got some informal mentors who I met with for guidance.

Barclays culture is very much one of a community, everyone is always around to help you out and even more senior members of staff always have time for an intern. Whilst people are very busy and therefore it can be difficult to get time straight away, they will always try to help you where they can. It is also a very flexible working environment with part time in office and flexibility over working hours and days in office or at home.

This placement was everything I hoped it would be and much more. I have had placements in the past that treated me as a child but Barclays has been so inclusive and I have learned far more than I had hoped. The support is amazing and the program is very structured so you always have something to do and someone to talk to. I loved that they put in effort to hold events just for interns and it really helped me to learn.

Yes

Barclays is a great company to work for so go for it and you may end up on the grad program which is great for your career. Make sure to practice doing some online tests for the assessment day and be knowledgeable about the company. It also helps to have a clear idea about what you want to do so be sure to do some research. I always had the dream of working in banking in London and this role certainly fulfils that!