Accredited companies : Barclays Capital

Barclays Capital is the investment banking division of Barclays Bank PLC which has an AA long-term credit rating and a balance sheet of over US$1.9 trillion. Barclays Capital provides large corporate, government and institutional clients with solutions to their financing and risk management needs including:

• Bonds
• Commodities
• Credit products
• Equity derivatives
• Inflation-linked products
• Interest rate products
• Foreign Exchange
• Leveraged Finance
• Loans
• Emerging Markets
• Prime Services
• Private Equity
• Securitisation

Barclays Capital has offices in 26 countries, employs over 13,200 people and has the global reach and distribution power to meet the needs of issuers and investors worldwide.

Work Experience Opportunities

We offer a range of internship and work experience opportunities for students at university or business school. An internship is an excellent way for students to gain an understanding of Barclays Capital. There is a range of different internship opportunities for students and they most commonly take place over the summer. They are available at both analyst and associate level, across all business areas of the firm. We also offer opportunities for students to pursue industrial placements, and other internships which can vary in length from around 10 weeks to a year. An internship or placement may lead to an offer of permanent employment on successful completion of their degree.

Quality Mark - What It Means To Us

Following our success in the NCWE Awards in March 2007, we decided to apply for Quality Mark status for several reasons:

• The evaluation process would enable us to benchmark our intern programme against best practice;
• It would provide an objective external opinion of all components of the programme;
• If successful, it would allow students to see that we had achieved a high standard in our programme and that it would therefore offer them a high-quality experience.

Find out more about Barclays Capital Campus Recruitment.

Quality Mark - Key Success Factors for Barclays Capital

Some of the key factors that stood out to the NCWE Board in Barclays Capitals Quality Mark application were:

• The flexibility of the scheme allows students to negotiate responsibilities and engage in activities they may not get the chance to on other placements.
• A lot of work is carried out behind the scenes to ensure line managers are fully informed and briefed about their responsibilities regarding interns.
• End of placement appraisals focus on weaknesses and so provide valuable feedback on areas where the students can improve.
• The team coordinating internships is made up of ten people. This is considered an excellent resource and reflected in the quality of the placement programmes.
• Networking sessions were considered unique and a valuable business skill to learn.
• Students have the freedom to make mistakes and learn from them.
• Managers stay in touch with students who are offered permanent positions, during their final year of university to keep them engaged and interested in returning to Barclays Capital.
• The programme is quality assured and in addition to being accredited with the Quality Mark, Barclays Capital had been highly commended at the NCWE Awards this year.

Other comments from the Board were:

"They provide an excellent handbook that illustrates the large amount of work carried out behind the scenes."

"Quick decisions are made about whether students will be taken on permanently, allowing them to concentrate on their final year at university."