Corporate Tax - Summer Vacation Scheme Review

I really enjoyed the experience. I learnt a lot about corporate tax.

My colleagues seemed to really appreciate the work I was doing for them, particularly when they had short deadlines and the work had to be done quickly. I often had the same people coming and giving me multiple pieces of work. Though, there were a few people that seemed to give me work just for the sake of keeping me busy, without seeming to care much about how well/ when the work was done by.

There wasn't really one individual person I was reporting to, in that I just got work from anyone that needed work doing. My buddy was very helpful though. He was happy to talk me through anything I had questions about, and definitely made the whole process a lot easier. I didn't speak to my 'champion' at all throughout the scheme though, so can't comment there.

On the whole, I generally had work that I could be getting on with. There were a few times where I didn't have any work to be getting on with, though after sending round emails asking for work, I'd usually be given some quickly. Conversely, there were times when I felt like I had too much on, though this was more my own fault for taking on too much work.

I was given a lot more responsibility than I thought I would have been given. Whilst I did occasionally just get given photocopying/ printing to do, there were times when I would be working on a project for a client, and I would be responsible for producing the entire first draft which felt like a lot of responsibility given that I hadn't been doing it for very long.

I'm doing a maths degree, and so none of this is particularly relevant to my degree. I didn't really develop anything in the way of soft skills (presentation skills etc.) and so while I found the internship a good experience overall, I don't think it will assist me in my degree. If I end up going into corporate tax as a career, then having done the internship will definitely prepare me better for the grad schemes.

The general atmosphere was much more laid back than I'd have thought for a Big 4 office. People could go and have casual conversations whenever they wanted, and you could hear people making jokes to each other. The drinks rounds help made the office feel very laid back as well. People regularly bring in sweets as well, which make it a bit more fun and enjoyable.

Prior to the internship starting, I received a lot of phone calls/ emails making sure I was fine and checking whether I had any questions. However, once it had started and we were actually in the office, it seemed much less organised. On our first day in the office, no one seemed to know where we were supposed to be at which times. Additionally, when it came to arranging our partner interviews, we weren't told who our interviewers were, and we weren't told where to go to meet the interviewer. It made it more stressful than it needed to be. Post interview, HR have been very bad at responding to emails, and getting feedback to me. This could be a lot more organised than it currently is.

Before the scheme started, we went to a hotel for the night. While this was nice, it felt completely pointless. So while they invested financially, I don't feel like I gained anything from this. Other than a 2 hour IT training session, there wasn't really anything in the way of training. Though everyone in the office was happy to sit down and explain stuff to you. But overall, I don't think that much was invested in me in terms of personal training and development.

At the end of our 6 weeks, we had to collect feedback from people we had done work for and email this to HR prior to our partner interviews. These would then determine whether or not we transition on to the grad scheme. I wasn't successful in my partner interview, and so won't be joining the firm full time next year.

Deloitte set aside some money for socials to be arranged for us. We went cocktail making, and having burritos/ drinks. So there was definitely a good social scene. In addition to this, the SVS's and sometimes other work staff went for lunch together and for drinks after work. There were also other events (e.g. BBQ) that were arranged by the partners that we got to attend. Finally, the last day of our internship fell on the same day as the away day, so we got to go to that as well.

Most of the SVS's lived either at home, or in the houses they were using for student accommodation anyway (I was the latter). With the number of socials Deloitte put on, we didn't need to spend much money and so I can't answer this question that well. From what I did experience of it though, the drinks were *quite* expensive, but not ridiculously so.

I didn't go clubbing at all during my 6 weeks, and so I can't really comment. It is the centre of Birmingham though, so I'm sure there are lots of choices for nights out.

There were regular rounders/ netball tournaments arranged, though I didn't go to any of these. From what I could tell, there wasn't a very wide variety of activities available.