Anuj Datta - Technology

What attracted you to Barclays?
Barclays attracted me on a number of different levels. It has a lot to offer you in terms of the scope and opportunities that are available. As one of the major graduate employees, as well they know how to support and nurture you, to give you the best of everything and that is why I was attracted to Barclays.

Why did you choose to join Technology?
Technology fitted my education background and my previous work experience to a tee. In terms of technology it is not just limited to the x y z of programming - there is the ability to communicate to the business as well as to learn about new technologies that are coming out. First and foremost the main thing about the technology aspect of Barclays is that they are major innovators in the market and it is a very exciting thing for me to get into. And for that reason that’s why I got into technology.

What does Technology do?
Technology within Barclays can mean a wide variety of things from setting up desktops and computers for all of its employees to ground breaking innovation such as the ATM. And right now Barclays is delving into mobile banking, the first of its kind across the world so technology in Barclays is a very broad concept.

What have you been doing since you joined?
Since I joined Barclays I have worked on a number of exciting projects ranging from incident management with UK Retail Banking. Incident management being dealing with any complications that happens with ATMs, Branches etc. Most recently I worked in Mumbai and Pune in India and that was within the Barclays technology centre in India. There I was working with the mobile banking industry as a project manager so I dealt with people all over the globe.

What does your current role involve?
My current role in Barclays is with Asset and Configuration management and global software licensing reviewing. Don’t let that put you off - it isn’t as technical and boring as it sounds, it's extremely exciting. Basically I am the task force manager of a leading group put together by the seniors within Barclays, so I am taking care of, and managing, several managers of Barclays across the world. On a daily basis, apart from the basic communicating and answering emails, which are more or less by the hundreds, the other duties I have are to make decisions on what else is required to fulfil a project and to make sure our project is online in terms of time and the budget that is set.

What do you enjoy most about your job?
What I enjoy most about my job right now is the trust and responsibility that I have been given and not only by my team but around Barclays as a whole. Right now I’m managing one of the major projects, not only overlooked by Barclays, but the stakeholders and soon to be the world.

Can you outline any interesting projects you’ve been involved with?
One of the most interesting projects I have ever worked on has to be within Barclays technology centre in India where I was working on a mobile banking initiative, the first of its kind, which means it hasn’t been done anywhere else around the world. Fundamentally I was working with Barclays employees from across the world, ranging from the Seychelles, Dubai, Mauritius, basically trying to roll out this mobile banking within a very short period of time with a very limited budget. So as you can imagine there were quite a lot of complications, it was quite a stressful task to be set as a graduate. Having said that the fact that I was given this opportunity says a lot about how Barclays treats their graduates.

What qualities do you need to succeed in Technology?
To succeed within Technology in Barclays you need to have some understanding and interest of technology as well as business. All the technical aspects will be fed down to you anyway so you will get the training and support there. Apart from that you obviously need to be very good at interpersonal skills - you will be talking to a wide variety of people at different levels of the organisation, not only in the UK but most likely across the globe, so you need to know how to communicate. Its not only good in terms of your business aspect but also your personal aspect - you need to have good interpersonal skills so you can communicate your ideas as well as interact with the people around Barclays and the business itself.