Assurance Intern Review

Overall, I have really enjoyed my summer internship with EY. The six weeks go extremely fast and I feel that I have definitely made the most of my time there. One of the best things about doing an internship like this, is that you start with about 15 other students. This means that you are able to enjoy the experience together, have open and honest discussions about the job together and socialise together.

Most of the employees are very willing to help you during your internship. I think as long as you have willingness to learn and a genuine interest in what you are doing, colleagues will have no problem valuing you. I think its important to bare in mind that the people around you are very busy so you have to be patient and understanding. At EY a lot of my colleagues started out as an interns, so you find that these people are extra supportive and are happy to give you advice and feedback. My team were happy to include me in social events, so I have left feeling very welcomed.

At EY you are given a counsellor, I met up with mine twice across the six weeks and I would have felt very comfortable speaking to him, had I had any problems. My counsellor was in a different area of the business so he was not quite as accessible as I would have liked. However, the person who did my induction in the Edinburgh office was extremely helpful in giving advice and direction throughout the internship. In terms of team members giving you support, I've found the majority are really happy to give you extra guidance. If you want to know more about something, you just need to ask and people will explain it to you. You are also given a 'buddy' but as ICAS exams fall whilst we are doing the internship, I only met mine once.

For the first 2 weeks of my internship I was given a good amount of work to do. This meant that I was able to come into work and begin where I'd left off and did not require much guidance, which I really enjoyed. During the last 2 weeks of my internship, I was given a lot less work. I found myself consistently asking a number of people for work during this time. However, I think this really comes down to what engagement you are put on. July is also EY's quieter time so most people have less work than usual. I think as long as you are willing to approach people and ask for tasks you will have enough to keep you busy.

As an intern, I was not given a great deal of responsibility for obvious reasons. I think the whole experience is more about learning the basics and than attempting to 'run the show'. As the weeks go on, however, you do begin to build up knowledge. This allows you take on more responsibility and tasks as you can do the work efficiently. On a regular basis I was producing work that contributes to the audit process. The work is relatively simple but has to be done to allow more senior members of staff to make appropriate judgements. Overall, I was really happy with the responsibilities I was given.

The EY internship is such a valuable experience to have. You get to put what you have learnt in uni into practice and this allows you to build up a greater understanding of audit. Not only that if you impress during your internship you will get offered a graduate role straight away. I think the most important thing about the internship is learning if you would actually enjoy the job. At the end of the internship most people will have made their minds up if the role/company is right for them. I personally really enjoyed my role and the overall atmosphere in the office. I would love to work for EY in the future and I am glad I have discovered this through the internship.

There is a really positive atmosphere in the EY office. People are definitely up for a chat and a laugh, which is really nice to be around. One thing I especially liked about the Edinburgh office is how supportive everyone is of each other. I constantly see seniors asking people for help and working together on things. There is also a Friday drinks trolley that comes around once a week, just a simple thing like getting a free drink on a Friday afternoon helps improve moral. EY also dress down on Fridays which makes you feel more comfortable and relaxed.

Most things in the internship are really well organized. You are given lots of information before starting, including where to go for your induction and your first day, what forms to fill out and what to expect. Therefore, you feel really comfortable about starting. Once the inductions were over, I felt the internship seemed a little less well organised. The student recruitment team decide what engagements you are on so sometime things are not organised as well as they could be. Our induction in Glasgow, in terms of content felt a bit disjointed and not as relevant to our actual internship as it could be.

We were given two inductions, one in Glasgow and one in Edinburgh. The information we were given in Glasgow surrounding client interaction seemed slightly irrelevant as most of the interns never experienced a one on one client meeting. So I think they could spend more time tailoring training to interns rather than grads. Mostly, I think they rely on your team training you. When someone asks you to do something they take the time to explain the process to you, which builds up your knowledge. I found training from my team most helpful rather than from internship team.

I am yet to find out whether I have been offered a grad position. Student recruitment let you know if you have the job roughly two weeks after your internship ends. During the internship you very much get the impression that there is a high chance of getting the job. You are required to ask people you work for formal feedback throughout your internship. These forms are then reviewed by a panel to decide whether you get the job. It is suggested that if you have been given good feedback you will get the job. One positive thing is that there is a grad job available for every intern, so you don't have to compete with other interns.

As aforementioned, working with the other interns was one of my favourite aspects of the job. Of course it depends on who the other interns are but I was really lucky, a lot of us met up for lunch everyday. It was great being able to talk to the other interns about our experience and ask them for help and advice. We all really enjoyed having nights out as well. On a number of occasions we went out for dinner and drinks. I know that I have made some genuine friends and I would love to work with the majority of them again.

I am from Edinburgh so I was able to stay at home during my internship, therefore I can't really comment on living expenses. In terms of socializing, the events organised by work are all paid for, therefore you do not have to worry about how much these are going to cost. When you have to travel for work you can complete your expenses form online and get the money in your account fairly quickly. When socialising with the other interns we varied where we went. On a few nights we went to cheaper bars and other times we went to more expensive places on George street, it really depended on the occasion.

The nightlife in Edinburgh is really good. The festival was on during the end of our internship so there is lots going on in the city centre. There are loads of bars and clubs that you can go to. When I was out with the interns we tended to book a table in advance.

There are opportunities to join certain clubs during the internship. I did not look into joining any so I can't comment on how easy that would be. During our induction we were given a presentation from the social committee so you are told who to contact regarding clubs. During our first week in the office there was a summer party that we were invited, which was a good opportunity to meet new people within EY.