Public Sector Audit Associate Review

Overall, I really enjoyed my 6 weeks at KPMG. The people were all friendly and welcoming, and the work I was given was varied and interesting.

I worked on over 5 projects over the six weeks, and the extent to which I felt valued varied slightly from project to project. However, everyone that I worked with always made sure to thank me for my help every day. On the whole, I did feel valued.

I was very impressed with the level of support and guidance on offer throughout the internship. Not only were the people that I was working on site always very happy and open to help, I was also assigned an appraisal manager who I had a phone call with at least every week (I could have called more), where I was always given the opportunity to ask any questions.

This varied between projects but on the whole, I always had work to be getting on with. My supervisors always ensured that where possible, I had work to be doing. Generally, they also tried to ensure that this was varied and gave a true reflection of the kind of thing I would be doing on the graduate scheme.

I was very pleased and surprised with the levels of responsibility that I was given during the placement. This really motivated me to try my best to prove that it was correct to give me that responsibility.

Although, I received limited formal training, the internship was a huge learning curve and I feel so much more clear on what a career in Audit would involve. The level of responsibility I was given also meant that I developed both my soft skills and more practical Audit-related skills. I think that these will definitely assist me in the future.

I had limited time in the KPMG office as I was on different client sites most of the time. I really liked the KPMG office and everyone was really friendly and hard-working. The atmosphere on client site amongst the KPMG team was always light and I always felt welcomed and able to ask any questions I might have.

Generally, I would say that the overall internship was very well organised. My department made sure that I had as much time on client site as possible as well as with a different range of clients to really see the range of work that Public Sector Audit can cover. My only complaint would be that I had some trouble organising my final interview, with multiple cancellations.

Lots of colleagues took the time to explain and help me wherever possible. The fact that the internship was well-paid shows a significant investment in me. However, I did not receive huge amounts of formal training and development from KPMG.

I would love to work for KPMG provided I was given an offer. I have not had my final interview yet but am cautiously hopeful that I will be offered a job.

On the first day, a networking drinks was organised for all the interns. There was also a bowling trip in the second week for the interns. However, there were no events organised by KPMG for the following four weeks, which I would have liked there to be. Going straight onto client site on my third day meant that I never got the opportunity to see the other interns again. Myself and the other intern in the department were invited to the Department "Summer Social".

Working and travelling in London are inevitable expensive. However, we were given a free lunch allowance whenever we worked in the KPMG office and were able to claim back a set amount for lunch expenses each day when out on client site. Travel expenses over what it would cost you to get to the office were also recoverable.

There were a lot of restaurants and bars in Canary Wharf, however I was rarely in the Canary Wharf office.

I was not aware of any opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work, however I did not specifically enquire.