FSO Assurance Intern Review

I've really enjoyed my time at EY. Although there were times when I had very little work to do, the whole ethos of the firm has been great. I spent a few weeks in different departments within my service line which was beneficial as I got to understand more about each area. The firm also offered me the opportunity to contribute to a charity project they were working on.

Yes, I would say I was valued by my colleagues. Obviously I am just an intern so I was given fairly menial tasks that weren’t particularly challenging however this is understandable. I did small tasks that were important for the next stage of the work which was completed by someone more senior but I was always thanked for any work I did.

Different managers gave different levels of support. Some would send you an email with a task and expect you to figure it out but ask questions if needed and others would sit and talk you through a whole task in great detail. Seniors were always helpful if you asked any questions however they did have their own work to get on with and could only spend so long explaining/helping with work.

How busy I was varied greatly throughout my internship. Close to deadlines, I tended not to be given much work as seniors were so busy ensuring they got everything done and it was easier for them to do work than explain it all to me first. However, some days I was so busy and I would have work for the majority of the day. In particularly quiet periods I felt I had to ask a lot of people before I was given work.

During the internship I was not given much responsibility overall. This is understandable as I am an intern and don’t have any experience of accounting jobs within a firm. I was often given small asks that would be checked over after but at least I was given work. If there was ever written work such as analytical reviews I was often left to my own devices to do this as you didn’t need prior accounting knowledge for this. As my internship went on I did find I was being given more responsibility.

I found the skill that developed the most during my internship was my ability to put numbers on a page into a real business situation. I study accounting at university and I feel the internship has been useful in allowing me to put my theoretical knowledge into practice. The internship didn’t require any real accounting knowledge as a lot of other interns had not previously studied accounting.

Our office had a great atmosphere. I found my department had a lot of younger staff which made it more enjoyable. Everyone at EY was really friendly and understanding of the fact I was an intern. I also happened to be in a big intake of interns, 4 of which were in my sub-area of my service line so this was nice as it meant I always had people around.

I felt the internship perhaps could’ve been better organised. We were each assigned a ‘buddy’ who was a first year grad before the internship who contacted us to check if we had any questions or concerns. We had 3 days before the first year graduates had left for ICAS exams so no one really had any contact from their buddy the whole internship. We were also assigned a counsellor to discuss the internship with and who represented us at the panel for deciding if we were offered a grad role however, the counsellor we were assigned was actually on holiday for the majority of our internship and some people never met in person. Luckily we were all offered a graduate role however these things could’ve been better thought out.

The company probably could’ve got more out of the interns by giving us more work, or of the work we did get, it could’ve been more challenging. There were points when we all had very little work to do and were left re-reading documents we had read before. This also made it slightly boring at times as we didn’t have much to do, but as a said previously, this wasn’t a regular thing.

I have been offered and accepted a graduate position within the firm. Although the internship wasn't a great insight into the level of work (I've heard grads work really long hours and rarely find themselves with nothing to do), it was a good insight into the culture at the firm, and that I really enjoyed. It also gave me a good insight into the type of people who work at the firm.

As mentioned earlier, I was part of a large intake (18 interns) so the social life among us was really good. In my particular area of the audit, we were rarely out of the office so it was nice having a group of people to have lunch with every day. We also had a few nights out as interns during our 6 weeks. While we were there, there were also a few office wide events we attended that were also fun.

I was staying at my family home during my internship so did not have any living costs. As the office was located on George Street (which is known for its nice shops and restaurants) socializing in the office area was quite dear however, there were plenty of cheaper bars/restaurants nearby.

The nightlife in Edinburgh is good but we didn't experience too much of it in our 6 weeks. We had 2 proper nights out during the internship which were both good then a few nights where we went for a few drinks or dinner, these were also enjoyable. We happened to be working while the Edinburgh festival was on too so there was more on than usual.

I didn't notice too many ways to get involved outside of work during the internship but we were only here for a small part of the year. I was able to get involved in a charity project and a startup network project in work (although it doesn't count as actual work) which was a good way to build connections within the firm.