Intern VAT and other Indirect Taxes Review

I really enjoyed my internship with EY. It was a great way to gain first hand experience of what it would be like to work for them after graduating from university. I would fully recommended anyone who is thinking of pursuing a career in accountancy to apply for the internship because I really feel there is a lot to gain from the internship.

I was always given jobs to do by my colleagues, I definitely felt like I was a valued member of the team during my time with EY. My colleagues would talk me through how to do various tasks then I would feel confident enough to work on those jobs myself. As I got more practice with different jobs I needed less instructions and I believe the team valued my contributions made.

I was given a buddy and a counsellor during my time with EY. My buddy was my first point of contact for any general questions regarding work they had set me or on other office related items. My counsellor was there to help me set goals for the internship and measure my performance in achieving those goals. At the end of my internship I was able to have a meeting with my buddy and counsellor and was given overall feedback of my performance which was very useful.

I was definitely put to good use by the team over my time with EY. I very rarely found myself with no jobs to do. Even if I had finished all the tasks I had been set it was just a simple case of asking another team member if they had anything I could help them with. Every time I did ask for more work there was always something I was able to get on with.

I was given more responsibility than I originally expected as after I had settled in I was let to work on my own projects in my own time. I had to make sure I was sticking to deadlines I had been set because it was my responsibility to get my parts of work done for my colleagues on time. One particular time was when a colleague was out of the office for a week and I had a certain amount of work to be done while he was away. It was my responsibility over that time to get them all completed for his arrival, along with other jobs I was doing for other team members.

Although I did learn some good skills during my internship, there is not a vast amount that can assist me with my degree studies. This is only because my degree is not very closely related to the work I was doing with EY. However, I do feel that I improved my people skills by being put in an office environment for the first time. This had helped me since being back at university because I feel I am more confident when interacting with professors.

The atmosphere in the office was very pleasing. My colleagues were great people to work with, everyone was very friendly and happy to help with any problem I was having. Little things the office did definitely made the ambiance very pleasant. For example, some friday mornings there would be an office bacon roll delivery!

I feel that the internship was very well organised. I was working in Aberdeen but spent my first week in Manchester at an induction week. In Manchester all the interns were given their own hotel room and there were a lot of organised events to go to. Once I had started my in the Aberdeen office I still felt everything was well organised as my counsellor and buddy had everything set up for me starting and got me started straight away.

It was only a six week internship so there was not much scope for investing a substantial amount in me. However, I was paid well for my time with EY and I feel like they invested in me by giving me the opportunity to learn from the other team members and ask questions. This way I was able to determine whether the type of work I was doing is what I want to be doing for a career.

At the end of my internship I managed to secure a graduate job with EY so I would have to say that the employment prospects are excellent. Especially by doing the internship with EY you are really improving your chances of getting onto their graduate programme. Even before I had been offered the job I was very impressed with the employment prospects because the student recruitment team were on top of things and creating a very good and true image of the company.

There was a good social scene with other interns during the induction week in Manchester which was partly down to the organised social events that were put on by EY. In my office there were only two other interns but even then we still did quite a few things together after work.

I would say the cost of living was relatively average in Aberdeen. There was a good choice of places to socialise that were either cheaper or more expensive. In terms of general living expenses there were no surprises. The rent for a place to stay during the internship was quite expensive, although that is expected in Aberdeen.

The nightlife in Aberdeen was very good. Even though it is a smaller city than other places in Scotland it had a lot of bars and nightclubs that I enjoyed. There was a good mix of cheaper bars and restaurants and more expensive ones. I was pleasantly surprised with the nightlife in Aberdeen.

There was a football team that I was invited to play in against other companies. So the opportunities were there to get involved outside of the office. There were also a number of different societies that interns could get involved in but because it was only six weeks I did not join any, however, upon returning for my graduate job I definitely will.