Assistant tax advisor - intern Review

It was a really well worth experience and provided a good insight into the world of finance and accounting. The company is very welcoming and this is matched by the people around the office. I think the summer was a good time to be at the company, as nobody was too stressed, and people were very approachable and helpful.

Whilst the people were really nice and always tried to offer work when they could, it was sometimes difficult to actually partake in any technical or more difficult work as the role as a tax advisory is something you need to be trained in. However the work given was still generally pretty interesting and not too laborious.

We were assigned 2 buddies, who were on the graduate scheme (so only slightly older) and a counsellor who was a senior manager. They made the internship supper stress free, as they would always answer any questions or help with anything you needed. Frequent catch ups and meetings were also really helpful.

It really depended on what projects you were given and which particular person you were doing work for. As it was summer, it was pretty quiet, and there were definitely times where you had nothing to do, which made time go pretty slowly. It was worrying sometimes when you had nothing to do, and being conscious of the fact you were trying to gain a graduate permanent job from this internship, it was frustrating at times.

As being a tax advisor is a pretty technical job, and in order to engage in projects and client correspondence, you need a lot of training. So this made it tough for an intern to have any real responsibility. However we did get involved in less technical projects which were fun, and being taken to client meetings regularly also helped to build knowledge. Being asked to draft things such as engagement letters and fees gave us responsibility also.

Well I did my internship after I finished my degree so it couldn't really help me on that front. It did however teach me more about the working world and how people engage with each other and clients in the working environment. I have been lucky enough to earn a fixed contract here in the same position for 6 months during my year out, before I go travelling. I will begin the grad scheme here next September.

Very relaxed in general. I can't recall any instances where anyone lost their temper of raised their voice at a colleague or client. There were frequent social gatherings after work on a Thursday or Friday and this helped to build a good atmosphere in the office. There was a good balance between young and older people, which was nice.

Recruitment did a good job of organising the first week, particularly with inductions etc. However it did become a bit more difficult when it came to the CSR day and the final event. They were constantly changing the plans, and in all honesty the CSR was a complete shambles. Despite a bit of a mix up with their budget, the final event was in the end very good. Inside the office, they were pretty used to interns coming in every summer so we just slotted in like normal grads really, there wasn't too much to set up.

Well they are obviously paying quite a good amount of money to have you there considering you are unqualified and usually still an undergrad. There is a huge amount of organisation that goes into the internship process, as there were so many of us, so you have to agree that they have invested quiet a lot of time and effort. In terms of personal training, the induction was good, but as there are so many different teams and departments it is hard to tailor a training program to suit everyone. However I definitely left knowing a lot more about tax than when I started.

Very. I think almost all of the interns manage to earn a graduate position. The good thing about EY is that as a grad they will fund your chartered accountancy qualification which is very sought after. Its a big firm, which always looks good on your CV, and the smaller teams inside the firm work very well.

Yes. We regularly went out for drinks and food at the weekend. It was a great bunch of people, and you found you have mutual friends with most. However this was all of our own accord. The actual recruitment people didn't organise anything except at the beginning and the end of the internship. We had heard in other years this wasn't the case.

London is expensive - there is not really any other way of putting it. Travel, food, drinks all cost more than anywhere else in the country. I would not recommend doing the internship purely for financial reasons, as it would be almost impossible to save money. But that is the price you pay for working in the most buzzing city in the world.

There are loads of places to go out in London. Drinks and entry are normally pretty expensive but once you get over that, you tend to always have good night. A lot of the people on the internship were at uni in London, which meant that they usually had accommodation you could have a few drinks at before going out, which was pretty handy.

A 6 week internship is almost too short for this kind of thing. Apart from the work itself and a few social events there wasn't much time for anything else. EY offers loads of co-curricular stuff to do when you are actually working at the firm permanently, but on the internship itself, there really wasn't enough time to be honest.