Audit Vacation Scheme Student Review

I gained a much greater insight into the way that KPMG functions on a daily basis, as well as gaining a deeper understanding of the requirements of being an auditor in one of the Big Four accounting firms. I thoroughly enjoyed my placement and look forward to hopefully being more involved with KPMG in the future.

At every client site and at the main office there was not a single day where I ever felt uncomfortable to ask questions or felt like a burden to my colleagues. From the first hour of the first day, every KPMG employee I came into contact with was so kind and accommodating- it made my experience all the more positive.

All managers and supervisors across the teams I was involved with were very supportive and understanding of my situation, being happy to give advice and instructions on how to do what they would consider to be a very basic task. They were all very approachable and happy to answer any questions that I may have.

Every day on the placement I was given a variety of tasks to do, and the various team members would check up on me to make sure I understood the process and was happy with the task at hand. Even if on a particular day there were fewer tasks on site, the in-charge offered up some tasks that needed to be completed for other remote clients so I was always busy.

I was given a fair amount of responsibility; each team were able to assign tasks to me which I was able to carry out and positively contribute to with my skill set, without asking too much or putting me in situations that may have been difficult to handle.

I have learnt and developed many skills during my placement that will greatly assist my studies but more crucially will assist me in the world of work. Working collaboratively on such large scale projects taught me the value of communication and listening greatly to the thoughts and opinions of others. Only then was the greatest work achieved.

There was a positive balance between having a chat and a laugh with colleagues, and hard work in a quiet environment when required. This seems to provide a very healthy work environment where colleagues are happy and enjoy the task but are also able to produce high quality work and are very productive.

The placement was well organised with constant communication being upheld between the local office and the central firm. Many tasks and events had been organised in advanced, accommodation and travel was provided and plentiful information was given to us at the correct times. Contact details were also provided so that we could access any information we needed whenever we needed it.

The company invests a lot in its vacation students, setting up amazing events such as a ball to which we were all invited, whilst also providing high quality equipment such as laptops and headsets so that we could all make the most of our experience here. All staff were also very invested in the vacation students which made us feel very welcomed.

I have not yet finished my placement but the company have made a very clear statement indicating that if you work hard and participate throughout the placement then they are very keen to offer vacation students a place on their graduate programme. This is a real motivator to get the most out of the experience.

The office in which I was located was fairly remote compared to other offices and was also small in size, meaning that the opportunity to participate in many social events was fairly limited. The company did go out of their way, however, to invite many vacation students to a ball where we had the opportunity to network and I was very grateful for this.

As I mentioned before it was fairly difficult to socialise in this fairly remote area, but socialising during lunchtime was very important and a highly subsidised lunch (£3.45 lunch allowance) meant that this was very affordable. Hosting a black tie event which we could attend for free also lowered this socialising cost significantly.

The nightlife was not great in the area that I worked. However, I commuted home every evening so this was not necessary or of any worry to me. There were other forms of social event which also made this much less of an issue and all the other colleagues did not struggle with this issue.

The company has such a variety of clubs and activities with which you can get involved. This was more difficult to do when involved in a 4 week vacation scheme but I would love to participate in them if offered a job at the end of the scheme as they would really enhance the work experience.