Audit Review

I really enjoyed my internship, I feel it gave me a good idea of the type of work I would be doing if I joined EY full time post graduating university and it gave me a feel of the company as well. Before my internship I didn't really know what people in assurance do but this experience gave me a wider knowledge of what I could be doing and the field in general.

I felt surprisingly valued by more colleagues. I assumed that a intern would not be valued greatly and that the work I would be given would be to keep me busy. However, I actually felt that the work I was doing was helping throughout the job I was working on and that people valued my input.

I felt very well supported. I had a buddy and a councilor that made sure I was doing ok throughout my internship. They kept me in the loop with social events that were happening at the office. They made sure I was busy and was integrating with the teams I was working with.

Most days I was kept pretty busy doing various different tasks within the clients I was working on. There were times when I had less to do and felt quite bored, but those days were few and far between. We also had a project that we were presenting at the end of the programme so that kept us busy during the quieter times.

I was given a certain degree of responsibility. There was obviously a limit on how much responsibility they could give me due to my lack of training. However, I felt I was given real work to do and it was my responsibility to make sure everything was done accurately and well.

I feel I greatly developed my audit skills, my excel skills and more general skills like how to act in the work place. It developed my communication and social skills. I feel all these skills will help me in my degree to be more disciplined, and follow me through post uni to help me in my professional career.

The atmosphere in the EY Southampton office was really lovely. There is a really positive, family vibe here. The people were so welcoming and so willing to help if I had any questions. They made sure to invite me to social events and so to keep me integrated with the rest of the office and make more connections.

The internship was really well set up. I was told at the beginning of the internship where I would be, what I would be doing and when. There was also flexibility during the internship so if I was working on a client but there wasn't much for me to do, I could be moved onto a different client where I could be of more use.

I had a certain amount of web based learning that I had to do throughout the internship to widen my knowledge on audit and on EY as a whole. I felt that the experience in itself was enough to broaden my training and development but it was really nice that people took the time to explain things to me that I didn't understand.

Future employment prospects are very appealing within the organization. There are opportunities for graduate jobs if you are successful in your internship so there is a definite incentive to perform to the best of your ability within your internship. There is also a clear career progression which is very attractive.

There was a really good social scene amongst my fellow interns and colleagues. The other interns and I became fast friends and we made sure to stay in constant contact and to organize meeting up as often as we could. There was also an office social during our internship and we were invited to that which was really fun.

The cost of living was not applicable to me as I was staying with family friends during my internship but the cost of buying lunch etc. was very reasonable. Southampton is a reasonably affordable area depending on what you are buying. I really liked Southampton and would definitely recommend it in terms of cost.

The nightlife was really good in Southampton. We went for a night out and it was very well priced in comparison to nights out in London. Especially with a big group of us we really enjoyed it and felt that it was decently priced. I wouldn't say it was any different to going out in other places on the South Coast.

There were lots of opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work. I was sent lots of emails about getting involved in office sport activities like football and netball. I was also invited to office socials like a pub quiz to meet more people in the EY Southampton office.