Summer Intern in PAS-Tax Review

I would say that I enjoyed all the events that came with the internship: the induction, the CSR day, the socials and the final day event. I wasn't too keen on the work that the team I was placed in did, so I did feel a bit stuck to start with. Talking to the program team and colleagues allowed me to work some of the things I wanted to do into my experience, which was much better.

Aside from not being able to complete any of the day-to-day deliverables that my team worked on, I felt that I was to communicate well enough and was given the opportunity to offer my support and time onto projects that may be internal or change processes. This way, my work was valuable despite my lack of expertise in their field.

My buddy became ill after 3 days in and never returned and I met my counsellor three times in my 6 weeks. As such, it really was a matter of me going out of my way to to ask for work, guidance and explanations for what work was being done by the team. Building good relationships with members of my team meant that they quickly became my mentors.

Not having any direct guidance with regards to the work being done, the first couple of weeks were sparse for work. It was a lot of sitting around pretending to do work so as to avoid seeming useless and bothering everyone at the same time. It was a case of incessantly asking for work and going elsewhere if people didn't offer any. Training modules are always a good way to fill time.

The beginning did not lend itself to much responsibility. However, speaking to the right people allowed me to get myself on a project where I was as much in charge of the output as the manager on the project. This was however in the last week or so of my time there. A lot of times, work I'd done was submitted by the assignee before I had a chance to share what I'd come up with.

Having not particularly related to or enjoyed the work done by the team I was placed in meant I didn't learn too many new things specific to the team's work. However, being in a professional setting made me a lot more comfortable being around people in suits and communicating on a higher level than university.

It was professional yet relaxed. There was never any shouting or much anger shown by anyone. Despite some small comments made to me about other colleagues and their behaviour, everyone acted very well and dress-down Fridays were always a very chill end to the week. I was well respected and included in all social events that occured during my time there.

The events run by the internship team were exceptional. From the venues and activities, to the food and fun, it was great. The work itself was not. The three major tasks I was set to do over my six weeks consisted, one of printing, two of a task that wasn't set up for me to help until my last day at work and three was never told to me. Any useful work I ended up with was begged for by myself or a helpful colleague.

We were told to go mandatory web based learning modules; these did not work the whole time we were there. We were all given checklists of tasks to complete in our 6 weeks. My was very generic to my sub-service line and I ended up changing 2/3 of it with my counsellor.

I'd love to work within the firm in the team that I had originally thought I had applied to. Having asked for a switch, if it is granted, I would love 100% to come back and work here. If the switch does not go through, I would not take a grad role in my internship team and reply when the 2019 grad places open.

As usual some of the interns formed little elite groups. Aside from these few people, all the interns were great and the induction and final events were made very fun by experiences of uni and then experiences of our six weeks of internship. We all went out for food and drinks after work every now and then which was really nice.

I was commuting from home which made it a little cheaper but commuting can cost anywhere from £6-£80 a week depending on where you live. Rent is almost extortionate in London but we were getting paid enough to live somewhat comfortably in an okay place in Zone 2/3 perhaps. Drinks cost around £5/6 a pint anywhere around London Bridge.

Not a clue.

Definitely. There were a lot of social activities organised by my team. Lunch almost became a social activity everyday. I would say though, that you do have to put yourself out there to get asked to go to places. Sitting in silence in the corner would not get you an invite.