The BostonHacks Intern Life COVID-19 Edition: Yunhan (Hannah) Huang, Barclays Intern

Hello there! Please introduce yourself, your role at BostonHacks, and where you interned this summer.

Hi! I’m Yunhan (Hannah) Huang and I am a senior majoring in Computer Science at Boston University. I am part of the tech team at BostonHacks, helping develop our open-source portal for this year’s virtual hackathon.

I interned at Barclays this summer as a Developer Summer Analyst. Due to COVID-19, the internship became remote.

What was the application process like and how did you prepare for the interview?

I applied for the summer internship online. After a month, I was given 2 soft-skill interviews and 2 technical interviews in total. To prepare for the technical interviews, I practiced coding questions using Cracking the Coding Interview and Leetcode.

What are some tips you have for those who would like to work at Barclays in regards to the application or interview process?

1. Apply early. I applied in August 2019. The initial assessments were sent about a month afterwards. After completing them, I received my final-round interview in October.
2. Talk about your projects. If it’s a team project, focus on your responsibilities and how you collaborated with other people.
3. Do some research on the company to prepare “What If” questions, which were included in the first part of my final-round interview. The “What-If” questions involve different workplace situations, and you will brainstorm your response within a limited time.
4. Voice out your thought process during the technical interviews and don’t be afraid to ask questions.

What is it like to work remotely at Barclays?

Since Barclays is a multinational firm, people in my team are from all around the world. It was fascinating to be able to work with these people and see how much impact the project I was working on can have on a global scale.

Throughout my remote internship program, I received tremendous support from my manager, team leads, recruiters, and fellow interns. There are many opportunities for interns to connect as well, such as networking sessions and game events with the UK interns.

As an intern, I was also encouraged to reach out and meet with 3 different directors across the firm individually. Every director I talked to was friendly and insightful, and I felt extremely grateful for the motivation and inspiration they have given me.

What does an average day look like for you and what are some of your responsibilities?

I built a Barclays internal site for Data Management Technologies Run the Bank (DMT RTB) team. The site enables my team to access and update team portfolios, pillars, incident management, and news alerts. It was a cool project because I had the freedom to come up with the prototype with my team and code the entire site from scratch. While developing the site, I met with every team lead in the DMT department regularly to discuss and consolidate what data to use and how to visualize them on the site. The finished product went live on the Barclays internal site.

In the morning, I would sign in to Barclays virtual desktop through Citrix. Most of the training sessions and project meetings are in the morning. I’d work until noon and call my team lead everyday to sync up the progress of the project. After that I’d go grab lunch and take a break from my work desk. Then, I would work until dinner time. Finally, I’d write my daily work journal to summarize the work I finished that day, things I did research on, and other questions I have.

What are some of the perks of interning at Barclays?

1. Extremely diverse culture and friendly working environment.
2. Amazing mentorship. Before my internship started, I was assigned to a Senior Mentor and a Buddy who both helped me tremendously throughout my internship program.
3. Helpful soft-skill and technology resources. Besides working on my own team project, I was able to attend various types of training seminars such as FinTech workshops.

How did interning at Barclays help you grow personally and/or professionally?

Interning at Barclays was the first time I experienced working from home. It was a new challenge for me at first, but I was able to have an efficient work routine and build meaningful relationships with people virtually by the end of the internship program.

Do you have any advice for those who would like to intern at Barclays or any advice about interning remotely?

Start building your side projects. This helps you expand your skill set and is crucial when it comes to the behavioral interviews. Join a hackathon organization (like BostonHacks!) to immerse yourself in programming and teamwork.

Remote internships can be challenging. Fortunately, Barclays has provided interns with helpful resources and engaging programs. Be sure to make use of them and reach out to as many people as you can, and ask tons of questions!

Any final thoughts?

I feel so lucky to have joined BostonHacks and I want to thank all the people I’ve met who gave me motivation and support along the way!