Arjun, Private Bank Graduate

Arjun began his career journey as an intern in the Private Bank and accepted the offer to join the graduate scheme after being inspired by his mentors and the positive culture. Following his experience on the graduate scheme , Arjun is now an AVP in Private Markets, part of a team advising clients on their Private Equity investments. Our Graduate programmes deliver immersive experiences, transformative development and incredible support – giving each graduate the best possible start to their career. Barclays Private Bank works closely with high-net-worth clients and their advisors who have complex banking and investment needs, both in the UK and across the world. We are here to understand their situation and their aspirations, so we can help them to reach their goals.

Arjun's journey from intern to AVP

What I enjoy most is how significant my team’s work is in the global capital markets. It is not unusual to open The Financial Times in the morning and see on the front page a transaction that we’re involved in.

My journey at Barclays started as an intern in the Private Bank, the internship gave me a good sense of the people and culture in the Private Bank, and I liked the sense that I got as it was very positive. It also gave me a chance to really understand what the business does - and what I learned about it aligned well with my career ambitions. Following graduation I joined full-time on the 2 year Graduate programme, I chose Barclays because of the people culture and the general energy here is positive with a strong emphasis on mentorship and development. Not to mention Barclays is an industry leader meaning that you get involved in the largest clients and deals in the industry.

First I had a rotation in Business Development, helping build client pipelines of new clients in the markets. I then moved to Relationship Management, facing off directly to clients of Barclays’ offshore India desk. Finally I was in Private Markets, part of a team advising clients on their Private Equity investments. The best part of these rotations was the immense amount of responsibility that my managers at Barclays have always been willing to entrust me with from early on. I have never felt that my corporate grade was a barrier to getting involved in any opportunity that I was keen on; the only criteria has always been a desire to learn, excel and work hard. The Private Markets rotation was the right fit for me and I got along with the team well, hence that led to an offer for me to return to the team permanently as an AVP after the graduate programme, and I accepted the offer.  A large part of being successful in the role involves staying constantly connected with our clients’ needs and wants. We work very closely with Bankers, Investment Advisors, and clients to: answer all their queries, provide regular updates on portfolios and understand what’s on their mind from an investments standpoint. This is one of my favourite parts of the job as getting it right requires us to develop quality relationships with bankers/IAs/clients, and frankly, ‘people’ are one of the most interesting parts of what we do. What I enjoy most is how significant my team’s work is in the global capital markets. It is not unusual to open The Financial Times in the morning and see on the front page a transaction that we’re involved in.

Our people culture is what really makes us stand out between our competitors – our determination to learn, do the right thing and solve the big problems of the world.

Barclays’ culture is all about learning, development and mentorship. My main training and development opportunities at Barclays have been informal, on-the-job ones. They have enabled me to advance my career by giving me responsibility early on so that I can learn quickly and within a practical context. For example, I have a weekly 30min call with a senior Managing Director in our business who is an industry veteran with decades of experience. He set this recurring call up with me as a way for us to regularly talk about what is happening in the world of investments; we pick a different investment-related topic every week and share our thoughts on it with each other. For one, this has helped me to learn a lot from the MD given the vast experience that he is able to share with me. But what is far more amazing is that he actually sees these calls as a learning opportunity for him, rather than for myself! I think that this kind of openness and willingness to learn, even at the senior levels of the organisation, is deeply representative of Barclays culture. Without a doubt, the highlight of my Barclays journey has been the people that I have had the privilege of meeting and developing close relationships with. They have widened my perspective more than I could possibly have done myself. Our people culture is what really makes us stand out between our competitors – our determination to learn, do the right thing and solve the big problems of the world.