Banker Review

During my stay there I was involved in observing the work of bankers ,and seeing the work they do. After the second day, I did basic paper work and this gave me a brief insight into the relevant paperwork that needs to be completed. This has been a great experience for me.

I have been able to enhance many of my skills during my work experience at Barclays. I was able to appreciate the importance of working in a team, and understanding the need to follow orders from your seniors, who are always there if you ever need any help. Even now many of the skills I learnt then are useful today.

I had a great experience during my stay there. I was made welcome by all the staff, who were very friendly and helping, whenever I needed assistance or had questions about working in banking. This made it very comfortable to fit in and I can honestly say made the whole experience enjoyable.

I believe that the work experience programme organised by Barclays is very well structured. One of the main priorities is to ensure the students are making the most of their time. I feel that they definitely achieved this target. I feel like the staff made me make the most of time and I gained a lot of valuable experience.

I think that the programme was structured to a certain extent, where I can say I was able to gain a lot experience and understanding about the work of bankers. However I do feel this could have been improved with some sort of timetable, giving more structure to the days. Nevertheless I will recommend the work experience to someone else in a similar position to me.

You will get to know HSBC – their values, their history and exactly what they do – and gain an insight into actual jobs that you would be doing if you came to work for them full-time. There will be an opportunity to work on a live project and share your ideas with managers. If you decide to go to university in the future, the work experience programme is a great early insight into a potential career choice.

Supported by experienced managers, you will be shadowing colleagues and encouraged to ask questions to help you understand more about HSBC. During the work experience, you will learn what it is like to work in one of our retail, commercial, operational or head office areas. This is something I will never forget in terms of support I received.

I believe the money and salary I receive is sufficient to meet my needs. Although this will depend on individual circumstances, I can honestly say for me it is not a problem. I am able to own my own house, car and go on holidays every year. For me the important thing is to enjoy the work you do.

Even though one may suspect that working in banking may have limited scope in terms of what you can do, from my experience I can tell you the opposite. There is plenty of opportunity to do other work and explore other interests you may have in your spare time. You can also move to investment banking if this attracts you.

Yes

After the completion of the work experience programme, I can say that I have developed a lot as a character where I have been able to strengthen a lot of the skills needed to thrive in this field of working. Also it gave me a lot understanding about the work involved of a banker.

The main tips I would give someone, is to always be yourself in your work and interviews. If you are passionate about the work and a have interest in it. This will naturally come out and other works/ colleagues around you will easily see this. Also make the attempt to enhance important skills such as teamwork and leadership as this will come very handy in your work.