Summer Intern Assurance UKI Review

On the whole and in retrospect I did really enjoy my internship. However the first few weeks I did find very tough due to long hours and a larger workload than I had anticipated. In some ways this was good, but at times I felt that my team weren't particularly supported so I felt quite stuck. My second team were far better and I really enjoyed my experience, this combined with meeting interns and fun social events made it an all round better experience.

All the colleagues in the office were so lovely and there was always someone to chat to. On my second team there was a real family feel and it seemed like they couldn't do enough to help me, I really appreciated that. I think it does depend what team you are put on, but on the whole EY is a very friendly firm to work for. Having such a lovely counsellor as well as people around you really makes it a very personal experience.

On an individual team level this varied between the two clients I worked on, however on the whole and in the office the support was good. I think the support is much better when your team has a proper hierarchy.

On my first few days before I was allocated a client I had very little to do which was a bit boring, but once I asked around I was given a few small tasks. On both my clients I feel as though I had a large workload, I think I worried myself about this more than I should have as my team didn't tell me some of the work I did was for an audit later in the year. On my second team I enjoyed the work balance, though we were working longer hours which was tiring at times. But I enjoyed being busy when I knew what I was doing. On my first client I felt at time I was continuously asking for more work which made me feel like a bit of a pain!

I think I had a reasonable amount of responsibility, more than I had expected. The teams were always there if I had questions or concerns, but on the whole I was left to get on with the work. I was also trusted to speak to the client which at times I found daunting due to my lack of knowledge but was good for my confidence.

I think it really helped me with my soft skills such as confidence, communication etc. I'm not sure how much I will use audit in the future as I'm not 100% sure it will be the career path I go into, but the experience was an incredible one and has had the biggest impact on my confidence in myself, which I'm really happy about.

I loved the office atmosphere and wished I could've worked there more! Everyone was so friendly and the vibe was really nice. The atmosphere in the client offices varied dependent on my team and the client.

I think it was relatively well set up. My first client was only a 20 minute journey however the team wasn't ideal and my counsellor did say this. However I did find it frustrating that it took a while to find out where my clients were as I had to commute via public transport. For my second client the train journey was about 2 hours each way which was really inconvenient, but the team was amazing and it was only 1 week so was worth it completely.

I think there was a good amount of investment. On my second team I had a 1st and 2nd year coaching me who were so helpful and friendly. This was probably the most useful training I received. From what I can tell EY invest a lot in employee training though and in supporting their employees.

Employment prospects are quite appealing! If I go into finance I would definitely like to pursue it with EY, but currently I am trying to decide whether finance is for me!

All the interns were so nice and we met up a few times which was nice, and went for drinks at the end of our placement. As we were often at different client sites we didn't see each other much but did see each other at the events that the office held and occasionally in the office.

I lived at my uni house which was a 40 minute commute from Reading. Therefore I saved money there. Socialising in reading was reasonable and the pay on the internship was really good.

I didn't really go out and experience the night life as I was tired during the week and busy most weekends, but lots of people went out every week. The nightlife looks good on the whole.

There are definitely a few. When I was there there was a charity walk and a netball match!