Bright Network member and UCL student, Masaya talks to us about his Spring Week at Barclays and how it was the perfect springboard to securing a role in the trading division of the firm.
After deciding I wanted to be a trader in secondary school, I decided to act on it in my first year at UCL. With the help of Bright Network and some of my friends I applied for some Spring Weeks. Barclays was my preferred destination because it has a first rate trading division and I had heard lots of good things about their opportunities.
The application
The interview stage of any application is hard, and this was definitely the case for my Spring Week. As a first year, I hadn’t had much formal interview experience, which made it that much harder.
The best way to build your confidence is to do lots of practise and really understand what the firm is looking for. It can be more difficult to do trading research because it’s a more hands on kind of work, but I still read lots about Barclays and kept up to date with current stories. When I started the Spring Week, it was actually very helpful at giving get a broader view of the business since it wasn’t all focused on trading. Plus, it gets your face known by a firm and sets you up perfectly for applications to internships/graduate positions.
Path to success
I was lucky that my Spring Week put me on a great path. After it was over I didn’t have to apply for the summer internship but was invited back as I had performed well.
During the internship help your team out as much as possible; you may have no trading experience, they aren’t looking for that, they’re looking to see if you can adapt well and fit into their team and the role.
We are delighted to let you know that Masaya has recently been offered a graduate role as an analyst in Barclay’s trading division. We wish him the best of luck.
If you've recently secured a graduate role through Bright Network, we're really keen to hear about it - let us know.
