Actuarial Intern Review

I enjoyed my placement a lot, primarily because it gave me a good insight into working for one of the big 4 accounting firms and a good feel for audit. I got the opportunity to work with a number of teams and a number of clients of different sizes and from different industries. The only negative is that some of the work was tedious, however, I did expect this considering my lack of experience and the nature of the industry.

This totally depended on the colleagues I was working with. Some were appreciative of the work I was doing and made really feel like a part of the team, however, others were not and sometimes I felt they should have made a bigger effort, especially considering I could potentially be a colleague of theirs in the future.

I felt that I was given the appropriate support by everyone I worked with, and they were helpful whenever I had any questions about the work I was doing. Everyone knew that I had little experience doing audit work and therefore made an effort to explain everything clearly. I was given a counselor and a 'buddy' for the duration of the internship, the latter of which was pointless and unnecessary.

I had a few days whereby I didn't have a lot of work to do personally, but there was always something else I could do with my time. On some occasions I felt I had a lot of work to do, but I never felt that I was 'too busy' and my colleagues never put me under a great deal of pressure. Overall, the balance of work was good and the hours were also good.

I was given a considerable amount of responsibility during my internship. Although a lot the tasks I carried out were very basic and repetitive, I walked away from every client audit with the belief that I had made a positive impact on the audit. The amount of responsibility I received was more than I had expected, but was not too much so that I felt over-stressed.

I feel the audit work I completed will not really help in my degree studies unless I do an audit module. However, I felt the internship helped me develop my organisational, time-management, communication and team work skills. The internship was also a good opportunity for me to develop my excel skills.

The general atmosphere in the office was very good. Everyone was friendly and willing to help you if you had any problems. The office was very big and there were lots of people working there, so there was always something going on to get involved with. The office was very modern and clean, and overall it felt like a great environment to work in.

The internship was set up very well from start to finish. At the start we had a three day induction, in which we were introduced to EY and got the opportunity to meet the other interns. I was given a timetable, which detailed where and who I would be working with. I was impressed with the set up of the internship overall and made me feel the firm was very well organised and professional.

Apart from the the three induction we did not really have any through training or development during the internship. However, due to the nature of the work I was doing and the the short length of the internship, training was not necessary. Overall, the firm invested a lot in me, an I felt like a valued member of the firm.

I was given a job offer shortly after finishing my internship with EY. A lot of their graduate intake are former interns, which shows just how good future employment prospects are with this internship. As long as you put the work in and make a good impression with colleagues and other interns there is no reason why you will not receive a job offer.

There was a good social scene among my fellow interns and colleagues.We always used to go out together in the weekends and it was fun.

The cost of living in Newcastle is relatively cheap compared to other cities in the U.K. Transport and food costs are relatively low, as is the nightlife so socialising is fairly inexpensive. I lived at home during the internship so just used public transport. EY have offices across the U.K and the cost of living will depend on the city you decide to work in.

I worked in Newcastle so the nightlife was great, and this city has a great reputation for its nightlife. The drinks are cheap and taste great. There is a wide choice of clubs and bars to choose from. These include; Bijoux, Soho Rooms, Floritas, Digital, House of Smith, Pleased to Meet you, Tiger Tiger. The city centre is quite small so you can visit a number of establishments in one night.

Yes, there are plenty of opportunities and we are encouraged to join the various networks that EY has to offer. These include different sports groups such as Netball, Dodgeball, Badminton etc. and also groups based on different hobbies and interests. I managed to join in for a netball training session on one of the weekends.