Audit Intern Review

This internship truly allowed me to discover how working full-time at KPMG is like. The people, the workload, the office and the responsibilities given were truly of an incredible nature. This internship enabled me to assess whether KPMG is the perfect place for me to launch my professional career as a chartered accountant.

Since Day 1, my colleagues have proven themselves as incredibly valuable and friendly. Whenever I had a doubt or a question, multiple people proposed themselves as helpers. In addition, during social events everyone seemed so friendly which allowed me to immediately get to know most of the people within my team.

Each intern has been allocated a personal buddy (a person currently part of the graduate scheme), a performance manager and a lead manager. As a result, I strongly believe that each intern has been truly given the opportunity to make the best out of this internship. In addition, interns were required to set up meetings with their respective managers to discuss their role and responsibilities. Hence, I consider the support and guidance given by management to be exceptional.

During my first week of my internship I was required to participate in classes aimed at providing the new joiners with all the relevant skills and knowledge necessary to be able to carry out the job given. From the second week, my engagement manager has been providing me with weekly tasks to be completed as well as their respective deadlines and a manager-level member of staff to help me out in case of problems.

My engagement manager allowed me to take part into meeting for apprentice-level staff. Hence, I regard the level of responsibility given to an intern to be of incredibly high quality. In fact, I have been able to explore what is like to be part of the Graduate Scheme at KPMG since I have been carrying out practically the same tasks as other graduates.

I believe that the skills I developed during my internship and the training I received will be partly beneficial to my education. In fact, I do believe that if I were to choose to continue my education such skills will not represent the core skills needed for a graduate programme at university.

The atmosphere within the office is very professional. However, in order to alleviate stress a causal business dress code is allowed. On top of that, summer hours allow members of staff to either get in the office 2.5 hours later on any given day a week or to leave the office 2.5 hours earlier. This contributes to the general wellbeing of staff as well as enable staff to get to know each other more on longer social events.

Every single detail of my internship seems to have been planned in greater detail in advance. Hence, everyone seems to know what I am meant to be doing as well as their role in relation to my placement. I reckon that such organisation is the main factor which lead to my internship being so positive.

In terms of personal training and development, I was assigned various e-learning material for me to catch up with the rules of a regulated profession as well as the main rules of the firm. No training was specifically addressed to me, it was rather general in nature. Every single intern has been required to study such material.

KPMG is one of the most attractive firms within the accountancy profession for anybody who is interested in qualify as a chartered accountant. More specifically, the office where I am based at represent one of the most prominent offices within the UK in terms of client engagement and procurement. Hence, career prospects seem exceptionally good.

On a monthly basis, KPMG organised a team social event at a nearby hotel/pub/restaurant. During such events interns and graduates are given the opportunity to expand their network and get to know other people within the firm. In addition, on a weekly basis my team organises a social event in town.

The costs of living and socialising in Edinburgh are pretty high. In particular, given the time of the year finding accommodation results being very time-consuming, stressful and very expensive. However, the generous remuneration given to interns allows students to offset the costs involved in securing an accommodation nearby the office.

The nightlife in my area offers plenty of opportunities for people who would like to stay out until the first lights of the morning. There are several pubs, restaurants, concert halls and night clubs which stay open all night long. Hence, it is up to the individuals to make full use of such opportunities.

Activities outside of work need to be properly timed and managed. In fact, interns have only the weekend available to be truly engaged in an outside activities. Particularly if such activity is time-consuming. However, the city offers multiple opportunities to have fun whilst not working. From parks, libraries, concert venues, festival, stand up comedies, student organisations, museums, sport clubs, etc.