What it does: Barclays offers a multitude of banking services including personal and business banking, retail banking, credit cards, investment banking and managing wealth for high-net-worth clients.
Mission: Barclays aims to develop world-class, value-adding partnerships with their suppliers and champion sustainable and innovative solutions with the heart of their clients and customers in mind.
Size and presence: Barclays employs around 9,875 employees in the United States and in total employs over 80,000 people in 40 countries, making it the fifth largest bank in Europe by total assets.
Best known for: Barclays is a universally known bank that supports customers and small businesses through their retail banking services, alongside large businesses, institutions and figureheads through their corporate and investment banking services.
The good bits: Barclays continues to lead in the UK as having the highest number of customers, a whopping 48 million worldwide customers and remains steadfast in being the sixth largest global investment bank, proving both commercial performance and contributions to society.
The not-so-good bits: Employees have reported that there tends to be a repeated change in management and leaders which can make it difficult to work with at times.
Barclay's ancestry can be traced back to two goldsmith bankers, John Frame and Thomas Gould who started trading in Lombard Street, London in the year 1690. During this time goldsmiths acted as bankers giving out loans to businesses and merchants. The famous name "Barclays'' became associated with the business in 1736, when Freame's son-in-law James Barclay became a partner.
Barclays began its rise to being a banking giant through the amalgamation of several banking businesses such as Bevan, Tritton, Ransom, Bouverie & Co., and Gurney & Co. under the name of Barclay and Company Limited. And, over the years it took even more banks in Britain, Commonwealth Nations and Continental Europe before purchasing the American Credit Corporation in 1979 and changing the name to Barclays American Corporation. Through this subsidiary, the bank embarked on a program of significant expansion in the United States and continued to set its roots until it became one of the biggest banking institutions in the world.
Barclays strongly believes that its success as a bank cannot be separated from its culture and is driven by strong values of Respect, Integrity, Service, Excellence and Stewardship. Employees can expect to be met with an inclusive, diverse and engaged culture at Barclays wherein everyone's value is recognized and celebrated; and that every person, whether you’re an intern or a fresh graduate just entering the field, has the same opportunity to fulfil their career potential.
Moreover, the company aims to prioritise employees in their life and work through our well-being initiatives, and flexible and employee resource groups. And, they’re well aware of how every person has unique circumstances by providing unique flexibility to help you achieve the optimal work-life balance supporting you at every stage of life, parenthood, caring, further studies and hobbies.
Barclays offers a highly sought summer internship for university students who are in their penultimate year and must be authorised to work in the US. The summer internship allows students to get an in-depth introduction to a business area of choice and receive a mentor to guide them as they build up their knowledge and skills. Applications typically open in September, with the internship starting in June for a duration of 9 weeks.
Alongside this, Barclays also offers off-cycle internships for penultimate year students or graduate students who have to complete an extended internship as part of their degree requirements. The internship will provide in-depth insights into Barclays within the areas of banking or quantitative analytics and will last between 3-6 months with applications starting open in September the start date would be agreed upon based on your availability and business requirements.
Finally, fresh graduates can get the chance to work at one of the world’s largest and most respected financial institutions committed to providing you with a chance to build a rewarding career.
For aspiring interns and fresh graduates looking to apply, first, navigate to the Careers section of the Barclays website and choose your position of choice which you can filter by location and job type. Once you’ve chosen, you will be asked to create an account to proceed with the online application. The application begins by asking for your contact details, education and work experience alongside uploading your CV.
For internship positions, once your application was successfully completed, you will be tasked to complete three initial interactive assessments which will give employers insight into the way you work. For technical positions, you may be invited to do an assessment in person as well. If the results of your test met their requirements, you’ll be invited to attend an assessment centre either in person or virtually where you have the opportunity to show your strengths and skills. After all these stages, you will be contacted if you have been accepted for the position and begin your onboarding process.
On the other hand, for graduates applying for a position at Barclays, if your application is successful, you’ll be invited to complete a number of online assessments designed to measure your skills and capabilities for the role or you may be asked to take part in a telephone interview in order to find out about your experience and technical skills. If you’re successful, you’ll be invited for an in-person interview where you will be asked to talk about your skills and strengths alongside demonstrating your competencies and they may give you some additional assessments such as case studies and role plays. Finally, if you’ve been successful at the interview, you will be asked to complete the screening process and the onboarding process will begin.
Barclays prides itself on its extensive development programs to give employees plenty of time to learn and move their careers forward. For those starting out such as fresh graduates, they are offered a structured career progression plan, job rotations and international work placements. And, once you gain more experience, there are opportunities to work on international assignments and secondments as well as gain professional qualifications. Hence, through the variety of programs the company provides, employees are able to build and strengthen their competence at every stage of their career which will be rewarded.
Barclays offers a competitive and highly coveted salary to its interns starting from $66,000 annually but can increase widely depending on the position you have. On the other hand, Barclays pays an average salary of $100,806 annually and fresh graduates and entry-level employees can expect a salary of $86,710 but this will vary according to job, department, location, as well as individual skills and education of each employee.
The pandemic has greatly affected every aspect of the world but Barclays has been committed throughout it all in helping its customers, clients, colleagues, and the wider community deal with the unprecedented social and economic crisis caused by COVID-19 and has given £100m to support more than 370 charity partners around the world deliver vital relief to vulnerable communities impacted by the pandemic. Moreover, the company has also matched £8.1m raised and donated by colleagues for COVID relief efforts. Resulting in more than £16.2m being contributed to charities around the world.
Barclays, along with other banking institutions made an effort to freeze layoffs amid the pandemic. However, due to rising costs and other internal factors, there have been layoffs taking place in various locations which have shaken up the spirits of many employees.