Tax Advisor Intern Review

I really enjoyed my time at EY. I worked within two different teams within my time at the firm and felt like I learnt lots about indirect tax. The company as a whole was very friendly and relaxed and had a work work environment. Overall I would recommend the internship to others.

I felt really valued by my colleagues. I was given work that actually went to clients and was always thanked when a piece of work was completed. When I asked for feedback on my work, the feedback given was always constructive and helpful. I felt like a part of the team in my time at EY.

The support at EY was very good. We were given a counsellor and a buddy during our time and I had constant contact with both of these to see how I was doing and to also check if I had any questions. The summer internship team were also very helpful and spoke to use halfway through the internship to see how we were doing.

On most days I was quite busy. Most people gave me work without me having to ask for it however there were a few occasions where I didn’t have anything to do and had to ask around for work. The level of work I was given was never too much though and I rarely had to do any time over my 7 hours allocated per day.

Some of the pieces of work I was given were going straight to clients and therefore had high levels of responsibility with them. I also did billing work which had high responsibility as it meant to I had to make sure the right companies were being billed the right amounts.

I believe the skills have helped my overall tax knowledge very well. I will not be learning about tax in the final year of my degree but I feel the internship has really opened my eyes to the level of commitment to work within one of the big 4 and how much dedication is needed towards exams.

The office as a whole was quite relaxed. The dress code was smart but women didn’t need to wear suits. The working hours were flexible even for interns and people never hassled me about where I was going or how long I had been somewhere. I feel one of the big perks about EY is the office atmosphere.

The organization of the internship was mostly good. We were given a clear schedule of our induction and throughout my time I felt that there was always a routine. I would however say that I didn’t find out which area I was to be working in until the day I turned up at the office. I would have been nice to have known a little sooner.

Each week there was an hour dedicated to lunch and learns where we were given a presentation on different areas in regards to EY life, from how to deal with clients to how to keep yourself motivated. I found these very useful and I liked that they were over skype which made them less formal

I would like to think future prospects of employment are good. I believe EY has a high rate of employment from their internship with the number of 90% being the general figure given. As there are two schemes of interns, the first scheme found out about 3 weeks after they left at the start of August then scheme 2 are due to find out next week which is only a few days after finishing.

The social scene was ok amongst colleagues but was good between interns. With colleagues I believe it varied amongst teams with the two teams I was in not socialising much outside the office. However the interns made sure to plan events between themselves as we felt EY lacked in organising things for us.

As we were in London the cost of living was high. I paid £220 per week including bills for my room however I believe on average it could be between 180-230. Bar and pub prices were similar in most places with a pint being £5. However there were some good happy hour deals around places near the office which we made use of.

To get to clubs you had to go more north of the Thames. There was lots of bars in the area and London is very accessible so it was never hard to find somewhere to go.

I believe there were a few but they were snapped up quickly.