Internal Audit Intern Review

Really good atmosphere in the office, and the workplace in general. Enjoyed the opportunity to learn, and I was given a lot of opportunities to do so. Work itself was interesting when it was given, although it sometimes proved difficult to fill in the downtime that I had. Project work was enjoyable and the subject was interesting, although it was sometimes slightly stressful.

Everyone took out time from their diary to have personal introductions where they told me about themselves, asked about me etc. Also as previously mentioned, there was a really good atmosphere within the team, and everyone was always very helpful when I needed some assistance. I appreciated that they took time out to also attend the team social that I organised.

From my line manager and buddy, was given all the support and guidance that I could need. But on the intern project, it was quite difficult in that the guidance we felt was required was not often easy to get, although it worked out in the end. Also when my buddy and/or line managers were away, I always had someone else as a point of contact available.

It depended, as some days I had a lot of work to do, meetings, and other activities to do with then internship at the same times. At other times though, I didn't have much work as it was understandably difficult for my team to give me something appropriate. It did fluctuate to quite an extent.

About the right level I would say, in that I was responsible for delivering pieces of work on my own, but these would always be subject to review and feedback, and I knew that I could always ask for help when I needed it. For the internship project, I had quite a lot of responsibility to coordinate and deliver it personally.

Because I was in the finance team within IA, I learnt skills and knowledge that is relevant to both areas. This is particularly useful, in that my degree is in Accounting and Finance. Further into the future, I believe that this experience will serve me in good stead wherever I go.

Was very welcoming and quite relaxed, which meant that there was a good atmosphere to get work done, as well as feel able to ask any questions. Also more social activities were set up within my team, so there was a good opportunity to socialise after work. I also got on very well with the other interns within the office.

The internship itself was quite well organised in terms of the structure, for example the induction at the start and the events at the end of the internship. However, I feel that our internship project, which was specific to Internal Audit, could've been better organised. I feel that because the internship was later than previous years, some may not have been best prepared for us.

Training on the job was good, in that team members were always willing to give up their time to show or explain something to me so that I understood it fully. I was also glad that my internship coincided with learning at work month, so I got that chance to apply for sessions on particular topics that I had an interest in.

From the feedback given, it has been pretty much wholly positive, and this leads me to expect my future employment prospects to be positive. Also from speaking with other graduates, the majority of the intake for IA is comprised of individuals that were members of RBS's internship programme in the previous year.

With a large number of interns working and living and Edinburgh, a lot was organised amongst ourselves for the weekends etc. A few times on the internship the bank organised social meets for the interns, but the majority of it was organised ourselves. I would say that most interns were willing to meet new people and socialise, which was a positive.

Edinburgh is a quite expensive city, particularly with it being summer and part of our internship coinciding with the Fringe. Furthermore, I am more accustomed to Glasgow prices which are substantially cheaper. In terms of living, I stayed at home rather than in Edinburgh itself, so my cost of living was nil, however I did need to pay for travel costs.

Edinburgh clubs are decent, but the priciness wasn't really worth it for me, especially compared to Glasgow. The venues and settings were all nice however, and the choice of clubs was also reasonable.

As mentioned, the interns organised quite a few activities for ourselves outside of work, which were enjoyable. Also, within IA a few activities were organised, such as CSR volunteering days and going to shows at the fringe, which again were good to get involved with. We also had the CSR challenge that all interns had to do, which led us to climb Ben Nevis for charity, raising £1600.