Assurance Intern Review

I have very much enjoyed my internship. At times, some of the work can be slightly monotonous or repetitive, however I recognize that this is a result of my inability and there is only so much I can do as an intern. Overall, the internship has truly been eye-opening to the world of Assurance in a global firm and has definitely educated me and given me a real-life and hands on experience of what is to come should I continue in Assurance.

At times, I felt extremely valued. As the weeks went on I did notice my workload and responsibility increasing which was really great to see I had worked hard enough to the point where staff felt they could give me more challenging, and a greater workload. However, despite taking on this higher amount of workload than I understand my peers did, I don't know if I feel truly valued where I have worked that extra bit everyday. I think after realizing you are capable of more/harder work, some staff may not appreciate that you are working beyond your level/ability and it can be challenging at times to feel ready for some tasks you may be asked to do. However again, I do think this was a result of working hard, inevitably you will receive more/harder work the faster/easier you work on current tasks.

I felt completely supported by management. My counsellor was a hugely important part of my internship for me, as I got to work with him for 2 weeks, so this was really a great opportunity for me to build my relationship with my counsellor. My counsellor always checked up on me and scheduled quick phone catch ups to check if I was having any problems, or wanted to try anything new that I hadn't had the opportunity to do yet. Additionally, the recruitment team phone call was another great external advice area where the mid-internship phone call really was good to catch up on. As well as this you are allocated a buddy, which is slightly more informal than your counsellor and you do genuinely feel really comfortable in going to them with pretty much anything.

I think in my peer group comparatively, I was one of the more busy ones in speaking to them - however I never felt busy/overworked/overloaded myself. There were periods where I would need to speed up my work to meet a deadline, but never to the point where I became stressed or worried about it. Some days there were plenty of tasks, however some days I found myself asking for tasks and waiting around to be allocated something for an hour or two. I definitely had a lot more to do in my final 3 weeks than in my first 3. This also really depends on your speed of working. I work quite quickly but I know people who were allocated the same amount/type of task as me may take slightly longer and so feel busier for longer.

The first 3 weeks I did not feel like I was given much responsibility, the next 2 I was given slightly more, and the final week I feel I have been given a lot more responsibility. I think this is down to the natural progression of an internship though. I would not have wanted/been able to deal with the responsibility I have been given in week 6, in week 1. It also depends how much you ask for I think. For example competing tasks quickly shows you are more capable and so more tasks with more responsibility can generally be allocated to you a bit more frequently.

Studying Business and Marketing, I do not believe there has been anything that really overlaps. Not to say I did not learn a huge deal, I just do not believe what I have learned in an audit internship will be transferable to my business and marketing degree.

This is a difficult question because the atmosphere amongst the interns was fantastic. Everyone was very excited, eager, keen to meet up etc. However, in audit you are almost never in the office so we didn't get to experience this much. The general atmosphere amongst the teams in all of my clients has been fairly happy and light-hearted. The atmosphere has definitely been comfortable and not a bad or upsetting place to be. However, on every single team and actually with 9/10 people I have encountered are not positive about audit. People are extremely open with their negativity towards audit, their desire to move job, service line, or location. This was probably my biggest worry/complaint about my internship is that the staff who are supposed to be showing you how great it is to work here, are not encouraging at all and are actually quite the opposite. There is a huge amount of complaining which I was really very surprised by, especially complaining infront of senior staff which I did not expect would be the norm. This is possibly the worst part as it can really drain your positive/fresh eyes at EY if you are surrounded by negativity in every team.

The internship has been perfectly organized. Week 1 consisted of essential talks and trainings and doing a bit of our project which we are set for the duration of the internship. After this we are allocated to clients, so I was allocated to one client for week 2 & 3, another client for week 4 & 5, and another client for week 6. This was great as I got a good variety of clients and teams to experience.

The firm provided one induction day which was useful, however since the only trainings/development offered are the web-based learnings and the lunch time skype sessions which I do not believe are necessary/useful at all, as nice as it is to have a little 30 minute break to sit and listen, I do not think they are beneficial.

I will definitely be accepting the graduate job offer, should I be offered one. The room for career progression at EY is very unique. After 3 years of sitting exams/studying to be a CA, many people get a promotion in one year, then again in one more year. If you are looking for fast and huge scope for career progression, and are dedicated to hard work I do think this is the place to be.

Yes, brilliant. The interns have a WhatsApp group and have met up a few times. We all get on very well and everyone is very friendly and happy to chat/help whenever which is a great comfort.

Not bad. Some bars/restaurants are expensive and some are cheap, depends what you fancy.

Nightlife is good in Birmingham. Lots of pubs, bars, restaurants and clubs etc.

I didn't personally get to although I did apply to an EY Foundation movement I did not hear back, however a fellow intern did get involved in EY Foundation. I think this depends how much you push to get involved.