Spring Intern Review

On the first day we started off by an introduction of Barclays by a director. He described the firm's functions and different business units. We then had a speaker talking about ESG at Barclays and Diversity and Inclusion network groups e.g. Women's network came to talk to us about the opportunities to get involved as an intern at Barclays. We then had division units e.g. retail banking discussions with graduates. The second day consisted of an assessment centre for the summer 2023 internship programme.

Barclays told us about the different sectors of the business on the first day, and how flexible it is to switch to different divisions. There are multiple roles available, from investment banking to sales and trading to retail banking. The summer internship is in one specific division and then you can convert it to a grad role. I liked understanding about how all the different divisions correlated to each other and how it was relatively easy to move into a new division and get promoted.

I learnt a lot of skills. Firstly, I strengthened my presentation and confidence skills by talking in front of over 500 interns and Barclays Specialists on the zoom call. Barclays retail bankers conversed with us on how to excel in the assessment centre by being curious and inquisitive. I learnt good networking skills as we were given chances to talk to managing directors and graduates. I developed on my listening skills and actively took notes and engaged with all the work.

Talking to the Barclays specialists was quite formal, yet they were very open and shared many useful insights with us. The recruiters were very friendly and joked with us, leaving the atmosphere light-hearted and enjoyable. I particularly enjoyed learning about how Barclays' core values embeds into every employee and how they put the customer at the heart of everything in retail banking. The interviews were quite formal but everyone was open to talking about their own personal experiences at Barclays.

I really enjoyed the insight. It was a jam-packed day full of information but they gave us many chances to network and ask questions. I met a lot of interns and Barclays employees and connected with them after on social media platforms too! The insight was very informative, as I learnt a lot more about Barclays than what was given on their company website. It was lovely hearing from graduates as I could relate to their experiences and we had a lot in common.

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