Financial Services Audit Intern Review

I found the internship to be extremely enjoyable as it was a new experience to me. I had to quickly adapt to the work environment and I was trusted amongst a small team to undertake an audit. I fully recommend anyone who would like to apply to KPMG to do so as everyone at the office were extremely friendly and helpful.

I was highly trusted by a few colleagues as they realised I had previous knowledge of auditing and accounting from my university course as well as being up to date on articles regarding the real world. Some colleagues were reluctant at first to give me some tasks but when other colleagues had given them my feedback they were more than happy to let me help.

My manager was extremely helpful. She was always available to contact despite having a very busy schedule. I was also assigned a buddy contact who was undertaking the chartered accountancy qualification whilst working at the office. He was really nice and made time for us to have a long chat over a coffee, allowing me to ask many questions.

Some days I was extremely busy, I would go in slightly earlier than 9am and have tasks which would last me right up until 5pm. However, on other days I had sat around for 6 hours as I ran out of work despite emailing the whole office to let them know I was available for any work they may have.

I was trusted on an audit of an investment trust company within a small team, the manager was extremely busy so it was mostly just an Audit Assistant - who is fully qualified - and myself. I really enjoyed having a lot of responsibility within this role as I believe I took that on board and performed the task at a high standard as expected of an employee at KPMG.

I was able to apply the theory I learned from my accounting and finance course on a practical level through the heavy use of an audit software and excel during the audit of the investment trust company I was based at. I also had to ensure I was professional at all times with fellow colleagues as well as the client. I believe this internship really helped to develop my skills and I found certain aspects of the training extremely useful going forward into my final year of university and future career.

Everyone was extremely relaxed, a few colleagues even took me out for coffee and paid. Many were always up for a chat and there was a somewhat informal but professional atmosphere amongst the office which I appreciated. I definitely never felt bored during the internship because of my fellow colleagues.

During my first and final week, the organisation was not the best. Many did not know I was attending for an internship and I had no official tasks in my first week. My second and third week I had an audit booked of an investment trust company. In my final week, I ran out of tasks and no one was really able to give me any more tasks to do.

I received the exact same training as a graduate in their first week which shows they were training me for a long-term career at KPMG. I felt this was true when I was offered a graduate position at the end of my internship so I definitely felt KPMG heavily invested in me.

As previously mentioned, I received a job offer from KPMG to start in September 2019. This has been really good as I now can focus on my final year of university to get a First class honours degree and not having to worry about applying to many places with a chance of rejection.

I met other interns twice throughout the internship. These were during two socials which were held by KPMG and I did not see any of them at the office, possibly because half of the time I was at the client's office. However, all of the interns I met were wonderful and highly sociable.

I live at home so the cost of living was quite low for me, lunch was normally quite expensive due to the office being situated near Princes Street in Edinburgh. There were a lot of socials which I was invited to and I made an effort to attend them where possible.

I am aware there is a decent nightlife within Edinburgh as I go to university here. I did not go during my placement as I was usually way too tired as I would go to the gym straight after work. However, for anyone who would be moving here I can reassure them they will have a wonderful nightlife.

As mentioned, there were a lot of socials held by KPMG and I never felt I was bored during my internship. I always had an invite somewhere each week of my internship and I felt really involved with my colleagues, even outside of the work place which I really liked.