Barclays Capital Reviews in London, UK Area

Pros

The people there were fantastic, and the hours were very reasonable with most people leaving at about 5.30 each day. The office in Canary wharf was a nice location & it had a great staff restaurant

Cons

The work was a bit monotenous, and there wasnt many opportunites to move to different departments other than ops. senior management didnt keep you very updated on what was going on.

Advice to Senior Management

Be more open and transparent about issues going on that people lower down are not privy to. Otherwise the rumor mill will take over

Pros

Amount of responsibility given is quite good, and is satisfying. There is a lot of autonomy available if you can take it, and can show that you have the initiative to take things and make them work better.

Cons

Lack of respect by senior employees to junior ones. There is a lot of attitude around "I'm a VIP. Everybody else is here only to jump when I say jump". And the worse thing is that lot of jerks do get away with it. There is also a need to suck up to bosses, to have any hopes of making it bigger here.

Advice to Senior Management

Need to rein in the jerks- if there is no-jerks policy, use it. Also, management should be involving or atleast keeping in the loop the people who area actually going to implement their plans.

Pros

growing firm - targeting top tier position - will get there - bob diamond - strong FICC , expanding eq post leh

Cons

brand - lack of culture - no eq biz - oldish population - team work is scarce - canary wharf

Advice to Senior Management

fire non producer, pay well rising stars/stronfg performers - cut inefficeinces, don't pay too many guaranees, don't aim at be GS

Pros

Great pay, fantastic benefits, flat structure

Cons

Positions given to those enjoy building relationships to Group Management, as opposed to doing any real work.

Advice to Senior Management

Wake up and start looking at the people who do the real work around. The best talkers are the worst do-ers. The best have moved on.

Pros

My team has a great culture, people all generally pull in the same direction and are keen to help.

Cons

Bureaucracy can sometimes be stifling. As with any large organisation experiences can really vary depending on what division and team you work in.

Advice to Senior Management

They are doing a decent job everything considered.

Pros

The company is growing, so there is potentially opportunities for employees

Cons

There was organis growth, until recently where all the management gets brought in from outside leaving little opportunity for promotion for existing employees. Some even got demoted in comparison. For example in the old days, VP is a relatively rare and most would be team leaders. However due to the difference between the rank in Barcap and US banks, people being brought in from other banks are being hired at VP level when they should be AVP judging by thier experience.

Advice to Senior Management

Don't look over the exisitng employees in favour of someone from outside. The general impression I'm getting is that to get promoted, we need to join one of the competitor and then come back.

Pros

I joined not so long ago, and from my perspective the goods sides so far were: a very decent grad program, good sign on bonus and base salary. Currently this is one of few banks that are hiring, so hopefully we willl have a bit more employment stability in the nearest future. The bank was not as severely hit as others, and some traditionally strong desks in IR, FX are making lots of money. The perks for those still employed as i know are in line with all I-banks, though the workload is somewhat less.

Cons

Some desks encounter annoyingly large ammount of IT issues, and sometimes tools you use are whatever you had created yourself. But this is improving (so fastly that sometimes I wonder how did they work 2 or 3 yrs ago). Most of jobs are not intellectually challenging (as in all banks I guess).

Advice to Senior Management

Good job

Pros

good reputation, very professional. I have not joined the firm for long, so cant say much just yet

Cons

Large corporate, easily being locked into a very small and repectitive role. I have not joined the firm for long, so cant say much just yet

Advice to Senior Management

more trainings. I have not joined the firm for long, so cant say much just yet

Pros

Flexible organisation for practical daily work - teams do co-operate as opposed to a defensive approach sometimes evident in larger banks. There is a lack of obstructions when all parties sign up to getting something done - the downside of this is obviouosly that a somewhat chaotic system can result though compared to the slow moving mentality of larger banks this is not necessarily a negative aspect.

Cons

UK centric, lack of international mobility. Seems that during the boom years it grew too quickly in terms of a business without providing proper support functions. In tougher market conditions the ability to properly serve clients becomes a decisive factor in winning business. There is also evidence that in a effort to counter this investment has been put into the wrong places to give a less than optimum result.

Advice to Senior Management

Invest in infrastructure, but get it right!

Pros

Good benefits, great people to work with, in general. There doesnt seem to be a large requirement for "face" time unlike some other banks. Salaries seem to be on a par or higher than competitors. Training is great and encouraged.

Cons

burocracy, egos, some middle management seem to run feifdoms without any penalties. politics is sometimes unbearable, however, i guess that this is the case anywhere. There are some inter-departmental rivalries that need to be dealt with, however, and this can cause some friction for people who are not used to this type of environment. Also, depending on the person you are reporting to, you may need to schmooze!

Advice to Senior Management

If