Manish Mandaila - Intern

What attracted you to Barclays?
I was attracted to Barclays, because at the time I was researching what companies to apply to, the economy was performing quite poorly and for me Barclays stood out the most. There was talk of Barclays acquiring a licence to provide financial services in Pakistan. There was talk of Barclays taking over a Russian rival firm. For me this showed Barclays drive for success through careful strategic planning. And also at the same time I managed to come across some Barclays reports and newspaper articles and from that I saw Barclays ambition for growth. I saw myself being a part of that growth and that’s what attracted me to Barclays.

Why did you choose to do an internship with the Commercial Bank?
From my past experience, work experience at university, I didn’t have a feeling of what it was like to work at Barclays Commercial. I knew Barclays was a big company and from my research that I would I would do well in Barclays Commercial. I think what that internship does is it allows you to get into the business slowly to see if you like it and see if they like you, so in that respect that’s why I chose to do an internship rather than jump the gun and apply for a three year scheme.

What is your current role within the internship?
At the moment my current role involves me working closely with the research manager so I guess you could say I am a research analyst. With that role I have to, for example, find new income generating opportunities for the business, whether it be worldwide or whether it be in the UK, trying to expand the team globally. I have also been making contacts, people email me regarding different products as a team, wanting to know more about it, whether it be colleagues or clients so I have to respond to them in an effective manner.

What do you enjoy most about your job?
The aspects of the job which I really enjoy the most are meeting new people. I cannot stress the importance of going out there and meeting new people, knowing how they have progressed their careers. I mean, surely they have been through the same processes that I am going through at the moment, and I would like to know what the future holds for me and they can provide some indication of that. And in terms of contacts, if I need any help for my project work or any work that I’m involved with I can always go to someone that I have met recently. In terms of enjoyment I think it’s really good to talk to people like that and have friends in the work place - I think that is what I have enjoyed the most.

Can you outline any interesting projects you have been involved with?
During my internship I have been involved with many interesting projects. The main priority is a project called the Western European Proposition and this for my team looks at income generating opportunities in Western Europe, so countries such as Spain, Italy and Portugal. I say these countries because this is where we have the most presence. What I am involved in is looking around these countries to see if we can provide our products there, and it’s quite difficult, which is really challenging and really interesting about the project.

What support and training have you had since joining?
Right from the go I have had great support with my team members and those around me. And in terms of training, most of the training has been on the job and I really do enjoy that. It’s a challenge for me - none of what I’m doing was covered at university or I’ve covered previously so it’s a challenge and it’s really interesting. We have weekly master classes where different representatives from different business areas give talks about their business area and this is also interesting to get a view of different opportunities available. And in a way I regard that as training. In all, support and training has been fabulous here.

Can you outline any inspirational moments you’ve been involved in?
An inspirational moment which I’ve had in my internship was quite recently actually, where I had a meeting with the industry leader. He kindly set aside time from his busy schedule to have a half an hour meeting with me. The first thing he asked me was to paint a picture of myself when I’m 50 or where is see myself when I am 50. I gave him an answer but I think we both knew that my answer was quite broad - it wasn’t well defined and to be honest I had never thought about that. This really inspired me to think about where I want to be when I am 50 and the goals I need to set for myself and the challenges I need to tackle. I think inspiration has many different meanings but to me it was someone really successful and someone at the top of the company informing me of something really important.

Why do an internship?
The internship at Barclays is quite challenging. However there is always support along the way - we have a buddy we can go to if we want to ask silly questions, we have various other points of contact, we have team leaders and the financial rewards are great. In weekly master classes you really get a flavour of what it is like to work in the real world. The whole experience is excellent and that’s why I would recommend an internship at Barclays.