Audit Review

The opportunity provided me with real insight into the business environment and especially the financial sector. I thoroughly enjoyed travelling to different clients and representing the organisation as a professional. I found the office based work harder in the last week to adapt to, but this is because I am used to not being located in one particular environment from previous work. However, the travelling aspect was appealing. Nonetheless, whilst I enjoyed the professional environment and social aspect, the place offered me with meaningless work.

I initially felt valued with the attention that I received. However, this was low in the first week when I was auditing at a client's site. I had to work incredibly hard to gain insight so that I could be of help, which was not provided to me by the majority of employees. At the office in my last week, I was informed that my time was invaluable with regards to cost so they were not concerned with how much I achieved.

I initially received great support from the induction day to my first few hours in the office. This was extended to my time spent auditing at a client's site. I received some guidance and support from one colleague in particular, who made my time much more enjoyable. Apart from that, the rest viewed me as dispensable with only low level work offered.

I felt that I did not receive much knowledge or developed any useful skills. Because the work offered was not greatly challenging, I did not learn anything to apply to my degree and beyond. There were some experience in a professional environment and how to conduct my behaviour that was useful. In addition, I learnt some knowledge of the software the organisation needed, but this is not transferable.

The first few days were very well structured. The induction day was great fun and I enjoyed meeting all of the other interns. From there, the first day was great and had us trained on all of the policies. However, after this they structure was absent. The audit team had now idea what to do with me or what work to offer. I had to create the opportunities myself, which certainly helped. The final week in the office was challenging because the work was not motivating or meaningful.

The atmosphere was very pleasant throughout the company. There was a very friendly feel and employees worked well with each other. It was a very sociable office with much aspect placed on the social side. There was no hostility. Everyone I encountered was pleasant and helpful if i had any questions at all.

The company invested highly initially. This was seen in the costs they provided for the training and induction day to help us fit in. Additionally, they provided laptops, accessories to allow us to work efficiently. There was software and online training available to help me develop. However, the training did not extend beyond software and online applications. No real training was provided on the job to allow us to conduct any meaningful work.

I understand from both the work and from employees that the work is filled with long hours and high pressure. There is reward there and many opportunities to progress. This was encouraging and met my ambitions. It provided quite an accurate portrayal of what I would be doing and I am grateful that I experienced the internship because I know exactly what it entails.

I understood a lot from working here. I am aware of how the company works, what is expected from me and what I must do succeed.

I have learned that this career is not for me from the experience. I did not enjoy the work nor the business environment. The work provided to me was not meaningful and i felt I was not of any use to them. This scheme was very valuable in learning this though. Without it, I would have likely applied with little insight into whether it suited me.

I was paid satisfactorily and generously.

There were many opportunities provided. There was the induction day that was well organised. This allowed me to meet the other interns on my course. Furthermore, there were a few social days and activities offered that allowed me to socialise with my 'buddy' and senior managers. This included drinks for a 'leavers party' and a meal specifically for interns.

There are many activities outside of work. This includes sports socials, which I was involved in, activity days for audit teams and nightlife. There was a constant emphasis on this with many opportunities. This is attractive as the majority of members are involved with this. However, much social aspects are filled with a drinking culture unfortunately, but there are few that do not require this.

Yes i did. There were many activities to get involved in. These included sport socials, nights outs and trips. Some of these were trips to other countries to take part in football. Social events were regular with scheduled events. They seemed to care about interns, leavers and employees in general. This was appealing and certainly valued.

I would recommend this scheme to people who are interested. It is a fantastic way to understand where the work matches your personality and drives. Without this, I would not have been aware that the career did not suit me. There is a lot of positive light surrounding these areas of work, financial sector, and it can be easy to be enticed by the benefits. However, by working there on this scheme I have a small taster and an accurate representation. Nonetheless, the poor structure and meaningless work was not a positive experience of this scheme.