Audit Intern - Summer Internship Review

Overall the vacation programme was well organised with most days spent on client site. I found some tasks very basic and menial, but this is to be expected on a vacation programme. I think visiting client site gives a good representation of the graduate role equivalent and there are also great opportunities to speak with graduates on the programme to gain an insight into their own experiences.

Very valued. My first two weeks there were only two of us doing the entire audit for a client. This meant I was given a long list of tasks including a lot of client interaction. This clearly showed I was trusted and regarded as competent by my in-charge. The following week I worked on a large company and formed a good relationship with the team and manager, who then requested form to be booked to a number of other jobs for her.

I was assigned a buddy and performance manager when I joined. The buddy is someone who is not yet qualified but has been there a few years so is able to answer any questions you have. Mine was very helpful whenever I needed help but sometimes slow to respond as you aren't exactly top of their list when busy. My performance manager was very nice and took me to lunch for our first meeting. We had weekly chats, which were helpful especially towards the end when my partner interview was approaching. Each in-charge gives you a performance review after you finish working with them, which is really good to see what went well and where to improve.

This varied from week to week. Summer is a quiet period so I didn't experience the longest of hours but still a fairly long week. Work again depended on the client you are booked to, some weeks I was extremely busy and staying late to finish whereas others my in-charge was struggling to find enough things for me to do to fill an entire week. In these cases it's a good chance to talk to other people in the office and build relationships.

A good amount, you are treated as any graduate joiner would be and given the same tasks. Including talking to senior managers and finance teams within large companies. The amount of responsibility does depend on the client. I worked on a few large and one small client and was given much more responsibility on the latter, as you would expect. Overall you are given slightly more responsibility than I expected.

Not too sure about degree, I guess it will serve as motivation to get the required grade to get the grad scheme if you were previously lacking in motivation (which you probably aren't if you got the vacation scheme offer).. I feel like I would have a decent advantage over someone who hadn't worked there previously partly due to doing the work before and having a basic understanding of what needs doing but also the networking you are able to do over the 6 weeks.

As it was summer and everyone has less work on (which is still a lot) people were able to talk to you a fair amount, which made the atmosphere really nice within the office. There was always a large group of people going to lunch together giving you the chance to meet new people. A couple of Fridays people organised a quick pub lunch for whoever wanted to join, which was a nice surprise. Overall a nice atmosphere to work in which nice and helpful people.

The internship was well organised, the only issue being that the final decisions on the internships were not reached until a while after the internship had finished. However, the HR department organised a number of social events for all of the interns which were great fun and it was a great way to build your network.

I think the greatest investment came from the application process, it was in the end an extremely long process starting in November. The fact that the company put so much time into me in during me into that process really made me feel that they were really checking that I was the right person for the job. There are also a number of online training courses tht you can do when you work at KPMG, all paid for by the company.

Probably one of the best bits about KPMG. It's such a huge firm with offices all over the world and a huge variety of departments, you have the chance to do a variety of jobs in loads of different offices. There is definitely a sense that hard work pays off and if you want to get ahead and are willing to work for it you will. In terms of prospects from the vacation scheme if you secure the scheme and work hard throughout your time with the firm there is no reason you won't get a grad offer, which makes third year a lot less stressful!

There were a number of events organised like bowling and other evening events. It was a joint thing between a number of offices around London. This meant I couldn't really go as I was at a client not especially close and the events were after work so getting there was a bit of hassle. So there were events and stuff to go to which sounded fun but needed a fair bit of travel to do so, which was a bit annoying.

It was high, however, that is expectable considering the main office for KPMG is in Canary Wharf. However, it is so beneficial for the company to be there so I feel that is worth it for being there. However, the transport links to the area are very good to all areas of london so there are options to move further away if it is too expensive there.

There are many pubs and bars in close proximity to go to outside of work. The nightlife is relatively good. You will always find something. Overall fantastic and hugely varied, however as it goes on until very late, you either have to leave early to ensure you're up for work the next morning, or only out on Friday/Saturday nights.

There are lots of opportunities like that at KPMG and they pride themselves on being able to considerably help community projects around the area. One of the tasks that we had was to present an idea that we had for a local charity. In addition, you are given a number of days leave so that you can go and help charity projects around the area.