Intern Review

I really enjoyed my experience at EY. It was organized really well from beginning to end. The induction process was a really good way to ease us into the company and getting to know other interns in the same situation as us. I enjoyed the work I was given because it was challenging and I felt like it had worth in what I was doing.

My colleagues on my engagement team were extremely welcoming. From the beginning they were giving me work which they needed doing, and wasn't just work they were trying to find me. This made me feel valued by them and that they valued my time and me being there. I could tell that they appreciated me being there when they gave me more than one piece of work at a time which showed they actually required me to be doing valuable work.

The main person who supported me was my senior in my team, not my manager. My senior was very supportive, helped me wherever I was stuck and answered any questions I had, whether they were silly or not. My manager was also helpful for questions when I was shadowing him, however he was busier so couldn't help me on a daily basis. My counsellor was also very supportive and she always found out an answer if I had asked her even if she didn't know it personally.

For the 4 weeks I was reasonably busy every day up until the last 2 days. This was very lucky for me considering it was busy season. And even when I didn't have work, my team searched around looking for me to do some work. I was leaving work between half 5 and 6 most days, but as it is not busy season this is seen as reasonable. I think it was the perfect balance of work I was given. I think this is lucky because my client happened to be at the year end so there was more work than some other clients.

I was not given much responsibility in terms of the team or organizing the work I was doing, however what I did do, I felt was necessary for the team. I did not get to communicate directly with any clients which would have been nice to do and would have given me more responsibility. However, I feel like I was not experienced or knowledgeable enough to be given any greater responsibility so was content with what I was asked to do.

I learnt so many valuable skills during these 4 weeks. The most valuable I think was my excel skills. I learnt shortcuts which will help me at university when creating spreadsheets etc, and for when I do my year placement next year. I think having these skills already embed in me will make me more employable and attractive to future employees and to colleagues at EY next year in my placement. I also learnt technical details about accounting which will help me in all my modules at university and so should give me a good starting point for my second year doing accounting and finance.

In my office it was fairly quiet and everyone seemed like they knew exactly what they were doing. It was a very work based environment and seemed extremely smart. However, people did joke about and it would be relaxed in the times people got to work and left and when they went on breaks etc. I noticed that on a Friday people became more relaxed, chatty but still completing all their work.

The internship was organized perfectly. Everything from beginning to end went smoothly and the transition into the working environment was seamless. I like how we got emails regularly, checking up on us and keeping us up to date on what is happening and what is going to happen etc. It was also good that there was always atleast one point of contact that we could go to if there was any issue and couldn't talk to our team, buddy or counsellow. I would say that the only issue was that my buddy was not here for 2 1/2 weeks of the 4 weeks which meant that I could not talk to her if there was an issue, so it could have been organized so that our buddies were actually around for our internship.

EY invested a lot of time in trying to develop us and give us as much personal training as possible. Every week the webinars were helpful and informative which helped us build skills which we wouldn't have got from just doing the work for the clients. Also, the training at the inductions were good plus all the Web Based Learning exercises. All of these combined, that EY has created just for us, was a really useful experience that they invested into us.

I would love to come back and work with EY. The employees were all so friendly and have definitely made my 4 weeks here pleasurable, insightful and informative. The prospects of going abroad are extremely appealing which makes me want to come back even more. I think the fact that I have a year placement with them next year is great as I know that my future employment prospects are relatively high, which I am excited about.

Between the other interns we had a large group of us who met up regularly after work to catch up with each other and socialize. This was good because it helped us create a friendship as well as a working relationship which will be good for next year when we come back on our placement because we will already have contacts there which will make the transition process even smoother.

I lived at home and commuted in so did not have to worry about the cost of living. However, going out in an evening was expensive, but because it is London, it is expected so I was not surprised. The commute in was very expensive though.

I did not try the nightlife, however the bars and pubs we experienced were very good. Such a lively atmosphere with all working people who went after work. It was expensive, but because the atmosphere was so great it made up for it. I also travelled to London Bridge, and out of Canary Wharf to experience the bars there and they were also very good, very lively and had more of an edge to them than the Canary Wharf bars.

I did not experience any opportunities to get involved in, however this is because it was summer so not many events were going on, and because I was only there for four weeks this was not much time for activities to be happening. I was told that I had just missed one department social and there is one next week so I know they are available it was just not great timing around when I was actually working.