Summer Vacation Scheme - Audit Internship Review

I enjoyed my experience thoroughly. I worked on several projects helping several teams analyze financial data, work on proposals as well as participate in client meetings. Some socials were organized as well, whether it be for all the interns, service line or team socials . Colleagues were also very approachable and friendly through the ranks, meaning I got exposure to several Partners as well. I further enjoyed the buddy and counselor system as well and thought this was quite efficient. Overall, I would say the improvements could be 3 socials instead of 2 for all the interns, and improved time-taken for getting feedback.

I think this is what really stood out to me, which is the culture of the firm. Everyone is very friendly and does there best to help you. Furthermore, anyone at any rank is approachable and treats you with respect, whether it be an analyst or a partner, and with this you are treated as an equal Within the work I did, and when I was invited to client meetings I did feel quite valued, and I think this is really a strength of EY.

I think this is where the buddy system really shines. I was assigned a buddy who was beyond helpful, listened to mock presentations and provided me an answer for every question I had. Through such a system, ample support was given to me. Furthermore, the counselor was also very good, and I also got to work together with the counselor on two projects, as such a lot of hints and tips were given for the workplace as well as the work I delivered. The feedback forms are also helpful in order to identify what your strengths/ weaknesses are and how other colleagues think about your work.

In the first week I was sadly assigned to a project that was almost done, so it was a quiet start. However, what I noticed at EY is that you really need to be proactive when looking for projects to do. As you meet senior people and impress them with your work, you will either get more projects from them, or they will refer you to other people. Through this, I was involved in many projects in the end which kept me quite busy on a daily basis. At the same time, EY realizes you are an intern. With this I mean that it is well-known that TAS sometimes makes extreme hours, and interns are not expected not required to do this as well.

I was given some responsibility, helping in the process of making VDD's and pitch's. Through this I learned how to format according to EY standards, learned how to break down different financial statements and analyze them as well as find appropriate KPI's and learned how to make suitable pitch's that would be presented to big clients. I think at times I was treated not as an intern, but as an analyst , which was quite a nice feeling.

I think the skills I learned were quite good. These ranged from understanding financial data, to commercial awareness about industries and companies, to presentation and social skills. In my masters in finance, it is important to understand how a company functions and what drives it, and what drives value most of all. Through the internship I learned more about such factors. Of course, within the corporate world it is also handy to have good social skills and presentation skills and I can say that these were also tested.

The general atmosphere in the office was quite good. Although people were making long hours, and were at times under a lot of pressure, no one seemed to be stressed or moody. Everyone had quite a good vibe about them which I liked. This made working at EY a lot more enjoyable as you could feel a certain positive energy.

I think the internship was organized quite well, most things went smoothly. The only thing which was a bit of a problem at times was work flow, in the sense that you had to wait sometimes to get a new project. However, this is understandable given that it is summer and deal flow has decreased, and of course because interns are here for a short amount of time.

I think quite a lot of training was done, which was mandatory and regarded different topics of interest. Furthermore, employees were free to further there knowledge with free courses on a host of things which were also quite interesting. The weekly lunch and learnings also provided additional information on EY, and working here with examples of the exam , the overall promotional structure, and how to go about getting the offer

Future prospects are quite appealing as everything was well understood. EY pays for the chartered accountantcy professional qualification, which is already a huge investment. Furthermore, employees could write a business case and convince EY of getting other qualifications. Furthermore, within London itself there is a big exposure to a lot of clients, deal flow is high and work is interesting. TAS is furthermore increasingly growing, and it would be a pleasure to work for such a fast growing firm.

Yes the social scene was quite good. Interns organized a few socials and there were plenty of bars to go to. Furthermore, EY as a whole also organized two socials for all the interns. I was also invited to a service line drink, which was paid for by EY, as well as a end of the month team drink, also covered by EY. I was therefore involved in a social on a weekly basis, and I think it gave me the right amount of exposure to connect to fellow collegues in a more casual way.

The cost of living is very high as rent is just generally very expensive. At the same time luckily internships in the UK, as well as EY pay enough in order to cover such costs. What I did enjoy though is that there are loads of restaurants and little cafe's around the workplace which are quite reasonable which meant you could eat out for lunch everyday. Furthermore, the workplace cantine is very good as well with a variety of foods.

The club scene is good in London, however it is extremily expensive if it does not involve student nights. As you work everyday and don't want to show up to work with a hangover, Friday or Saturday are the usual days where one would go out. However, at the same time , bars are spread out across London and some nice rooftop bars exist as well. These can be more affordable, and therefore I would say the nightlife is quite good.

Not really, the only activity I recall having the opportunity to get involved with out of work was the work social which I and the interns were involved with. To give them the benefit of the doubt though, we were only there for 6 weeks and it was a slow season for work therefore the office was regularly quite empty.