Human Capital Tax adviser Review

I really enjoyed the internship. We were given the opportunity to mix with other interns as well as the teams that we were working in. The induction programme ensured that we got to know other interns from other departments which became useful later on when working with other departments. The Human Capital team were extremely welcoming from day one and included me in many activities such as after work drinks or lunches

The team made you feel as though the work you were doing was not just for the sake of giving you something to do but actually was useful to them. I was made to feel like I was helping them rather than a burden to them which I know that others elsewhere felt. This was extremely important as I did not hesitate to ask for help or work as I felt they actually wanted to help me.

The EY team is made up of the internship programme team who over see all the interns as a whole, the internship facilitators that are specific to each department and over see the interns in that team (in my case 3 of us), and your counsellor and buddy who are a senior manager and a first year. This provided us with many different lines of support and was clear that we could ask for anything no matter how small it may feel.

The work load for me varied depending on which team I was assigned to that week. On some weeks, some were too busy to provide me with work or did not have anything that was suitable for me to do. However if this was the case, they always asked around other people to try and get something for me to do. I never felt like I had too much to do as it was made very clear that we were able to turn down work if we did not feel like we could handle it and this was perfectly acceptable.

I feel I was given an adequate amount of responsibility for an intern. I was entrusted to complete client documents and attend client meetings, however some days I found that I was photocopying which did not require huge amounts of responsibility. I definitely felt that I was given a lot more responsibility than some of my peers

I believe that the skills and experience from the internship have been invaluable, both in managing my work load for my degree but also for future employment opportunities. The office atmosphere and commute may seem like small things but I think having 6 weeks experience of this will help me greatly when going into full time work.

The atmosphere was quite laid back. Everyone was working but felt that they were able to stop for a joke and were not being watched. Every last Friday of the month was 'dress down Friday' in which the department provided cakes and snacks and the atmosphere was a lot lighter. I was not made to feel like I had to stay late for the sake of it and only had to stay to ensure that my work was completed.

The overall internship programme was well organised both on a overall programme and department level. However I do feel like their recruitment process could do with some improvements. On my first stage interview, I was 'forgotten' about and so was left waiting for over an hour. Then previous to my assessment centre, I was told my final interview would be on a different day, however on arrival was asked to leave the room to prepare for my interview. I then had to explain that I was told a different day which was quite nerve wrecking to say to a Partner.

I feel the company invested a lot of time in me to ensure that I learnt from the internship experience but also enjoyed it. I do feel however that they could have stretched me a bit further in providing me with some more challenging work, although I recognise that a lot of the work I was doing was confidential and therefore, without qualifications, I was limited to what work I could be involved in.

As the internship recruitment process is the same as the graduate programme process, EY sell the internship as as much of an opportunity for you to see if you like the company than it is for them to see if they like you. I know of many people that have secured a graduate job and the majority are taking it due to their internship experience and the great training that is provided.

The beginning of the internship provided many opportunities to mix and socialise with other interns. After this first week it was more up to you to arrange stuff until the final event on the last night of the internship. However, interns were very keen to arrange stuff for after work and at the weekend as many of them had moved to London for the 6 weeks.

I lived at home during the programme therefore only had to bear the cost of the commute which was about £10 a day. As it was central London, socialising was expensive, however when it was a work event, the company often footed the bill. If we were just going for after work drinks, the team were very generous and would never let you pay.

There were a lot of places to go for dinner and drinks etc as London is so well connected. It was fun finding quirky places that you didn't know existed before and being in London more allowed you to do this. It was also fun as so many other people from home/uni were also doing internships in London so was easy to meet up after work or in the lunch hour as you were often working close to them

EY advertises a lot of opportunities to get involved in sports and societies outside of work. However when we emailed about joining the sports club we didn't get a reply. I guess as it was quite a short programme, we wouldn't have a lot of chances to go to a weekly sports training. Therefore I think if you were on a longer programme then it would provide more opportunities to get involved in activities out of work