Summer Intern- Assurance Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my 6 week summer internship at EY. The team I worked with were friendly and helpful. The recruitment team were supportive throughout the entire process and I enjoyed the atmosphere in the office.

I felt highly valued by my colleagues, they expressed this both directly and in my reviews. The counsellor and buddy system are also great for receiving feedback

The support I received was incredibly helpful and went above and beyond my expectations. I had a counsellor as well as a buddy and everyone one else in my team was friendly and helpful and I felt I was able to approach them when necessary. There were a number of catch up meetings throughout the internship with my counsellor and these were useful for expressing concerns. I felt that anything I brought up if confidential would remain so but also if it needed to be acted upon then it was. The councillor system was very effective and it was great to see it being used throughout the entire business and not just specifically for interns.

To start off with I had little to do and I did feel a bit bored, however, it did pick up quite quickly and I was given a lot to do. Whilst my team were aware of my workload and tried not to over burden me I was still kept busy and challenged with most tasks. I learnt a lot and a lot of effort was put into teaching me how to use certain programmes and complete different tasks so that eventually I could do them on my own. I was never made to stay very late, if I was still around after 6pm my colleagues would make sure I left, whilst there were deadlines to meet I was not put under a huge amount of pressure.

I was given a lot of responsibility which at first I did not realise but was later told that I was doing the work of a first year. This was very motivating and enjoyed being trusted with so much. My work was monitored and checked over before going out to clients which was reassuring and it also provided a good chance to receive feedback. I attended meetings and completed a lot of tasks.

The skills I gained over the internship will assist me greatly. They range from networking and communicating in a professional environment to time management and using various software programmes, something I did not have a lot of experience with. There was a lot of effort put into teaching me and at the beginning of the internship all interns set goals and receive a checklist of other tasks to complete. This ensures a well rounded and measured way to ensure that you achieve something whilst undertaking the internship. The goals you set are all up to you and I specifically chose ones that would be useful in my degree so these have assisted me to a large extent. Each checklist is designed for a specific line which makes them very relative beyond the internship, they allow you to get to know the company, meet partners, attend meetings and even organise a CSR event which helps in terms of networking and forging good relationships with the other interns.

The atmosphere could be laid back and friendly in the office but at the same time everyone worked very hard and the same was expected of you. As an intern you are trying to impress the team and work hard but they did not expect you to skip lunch or stay really late every evening.

The internship was well set up. All interns started off with a 3 day training workshop in Manchester, this was well organised and we learnt a lot. It was also a great opportunity to meet the interns in your office so that we were already friends by the time we began work. This made the first day in the office a lot less daunting. The recruitment team were very helpful and I felt they were always on hand if I had any questions. Each intern had a buddy and a counsellor so there was a lot of support throughout the internship. This was well set up and the buddies took us out for lunch on the first day and were happy to answer all manner of questions whilst the counsellors focused more on your development throughout the internship. The checklist and the goals set at the beginning of the internship helped to keep you on track and a careers meeting half way through from recruitment was a good check up. Overall, it was well organised and you could tell a lot of effort was put into making you comfortable and helping you to get the most out of the internship.

I felt as though a lot of time and effort was out into my training and development. Some of the goals I set at the beginning involved different service lines and my counsellor and buddy ensured I was put in touch with the right people and allowed me to set aside time to pursue these. Most of the team from managers to associates would sit and explain steps to me when they could have completed the task themselves in half the time. I was not afraid to ask questions and I felt they had a lot of patience and willingness to help me. I learnt a lot in terms of training and development and their patience paid of and was very rewarding.

EY has an unlimited amount of possibilities for their employees. It is such a big firm and they make it known from the beginning that they are willing to help you in any way. I have been offered and accepted a graduate position with them and I feel this has opened a lot of doors.

There was a great social aspect with the other interns. We were fortunate to become friends whilst at the training in Manchester and have mostly stayed in touch since the internship finished. EY does put some emphasis on helping you get to know one another and it makes the internship a lot more enjoyable. We even had the opportunity to meet the other interns from the second scheme which was fun.

Edinburgh varies in terms of cost of living. As a student at the University of Edinburgh I was already settled and had a place to stay. However, it can be expensive trying to find somewhere to stay during August whilst the Festival is underway. Socialising babies depending on where you go but as a mainly student town it isn't that expensive.

The nightlife in Edinburgh is pretty good, there is a wide variety of bars, clubs and pubs to choose from. The main nightlife is along George Street. The EY office is also on George Street which was ideal for organising after work drinks, the team were quite social and this was a regular end of week occurrence as well as for leaving events.

There was a good structure in place to help you get involved in other activities such as sports, CSR and recruitment with EY. Just by showing a bit of interest you could easily become involved. I did not get involved with many activities- the six weeks fly by- but as interns we were given a great opportunity to organise a CSR event. The whole office were really supportive and this was a regular occurrence.