Summer Vacation Student Review

I really enjoyed the internship, I felt like I was able to actually contribute something useful to the jobs I was put on.

My colleagues really made an effort to include me in everything that was going on, went out of their way to help me and advise me.

The set up within the department was quite hierarchical as they regularly have an intake of new trainees, this meant that the managers and supervisors were good at providing support and guidance. The only problem was that my supervisor actually left the firm half way through my placement, which left me slightly in limbo in terms of my direct manager.

Most days I had a really ideal amount of work to do, work I could do that day or the next and it was ok. There were only a couple of days where I wasnt given enough to do or given too much to do.

I wasnt given a huge amount of responsibility, although I spent a lot of time out at clients and at times was left at clients on my own, I also got given my own sections of jobs to work on too.

While none of what I learnt is particularly relevant to my degree course, I learnt a lot about the working environment and interactions with clients and colleagues.

My placement didn’t involve a lot of time in the KPMG office, I spent a lot of time out at clients firms. Whenever I was in the office, and even when we were out of the office, there was an open and friendly atmosphere where everyone would help out and chat.

Within itself the internship was excellently organised, however, the arrangements for interviews and job offers at the end of the internship were extremely poor.

There was the opportunity to participate in CSR activities and online training programmes as well as a two day internship training course.

The majority of interns are put forward for partner interviews, the final stage of the graduate programme application process.

There were not many placement students in my department, but the few of us who were there met up several times. The other people I was working with were very sociable and included me in a number of after work events.

I lived at home so I don't know the cost of living in the area, but socialising can be quite expensive.

The nightlife in Edinburgh is really good, especially over the festival in August (which is when the placement took place).

Yes, there is a lot going on in the KPMG Edinburgh Office and also in the city.