Audit Vacation Student Review

The insight provided valuable knowledge about the firm. I enjoyed the atmosphere of the office and everyone was very welcoming which made each engagement enjoyable. It was difficult at points during the vacation scheme when tasks were not explained thoroughly by the incharge or manager, resulting in confusion on what to do.

Everyone was very welcoming at the firm which made a very good first impression from the outset. I felt that the tasks that were given, on the whole, were aimed to help my understanding and increase my skills and experience, and I was not just given routine, simple tasks that would have been of little value. I was also invited to various social events which helped me to feel included.

I was on two engagements throughout my vacation scheme, and the guidance received in each varied greatly. In my first engagement, tasks were given with little explanation on what to do and what was being asked of me. I found this particularly difficult as I did not have any prior accounting experience and, when asked for help explaining, it was always in a very rushed manner. However, in my second engagement, everything was explained in detail to me and I felt like I could turn to anyone in my team for help if stuck.

The skills developed during my vacation scheme will not greatly assist me in the final year of my degree, however, I now have a much better insight into what a career in audit would be like once my degree programme has finished. The skills learnt during this vacation scheme will be of great importance if I decide to pursue a career in audit.

Overall, I think the insight was structured well. The values day allowed a good insight into the firm to start, and the next day in our home office with the other vacation students was a good way to settle in without it being too daunting. My engagements were scheduled for 2 weeks each, and I felt like I got a good breadth of clientele and experience working with different teams.

The atmosphere in both the office and on client site was very good, and this was largely helped by how welcoming and lovely all staff were. Even with routine tasks, everyone would keep a positive attitude and everyone was willing to help if necessary, even if they were not familiar with the task you were doing.

There were multiple training courses online that were available to us. Out of these courses, some were compulsory before we were able to attend client site, and others were optional. I completed all courses, both compulsory and optional, and felt like I learnt a large amount about the regulations and rules of audit especially.

Having spent 2 weeks on both my engagements, I can say that I have a good understanding of what will be expected of me and what tasks I would be likely to undertake if I returned on the graduate scheme. This has been helped largely through conversations with other team members who took part in the graduate scheme.

The insight has really helped me to understand the company culture. Everyone is very people orientated, and acts towards one and other with the best intentions. The tribes within the office help everyone to stay motivated and allows you to know other people in the office who may not be on any of your engagements.

The everyday tasks have helped me to decide that I am likely to pursue a career in audit.

I believe that I was paid and reimbursed adequately for this experience. Expenses were reimbursed in a timely manner, with a generous £5 for lunch each day when on client site and 45p a mile for when we were driving to client site. I think we were paid the right amount for our time.

Yes, there was a lot of opportunities to meet other employees. There was a tribe event scheduled which I attended, allowing me to not only meet members of my tribe, but members of other tribes in the office. There was also a vacation scheme social in London with all vacation students.

I only attended one social event, but it was enjoyable. It was a football social so the majority of the people attending were playing and there were only 5 or 6 others watching. It was good to get to know those others watching, but due to not many people turning up, I did not get to meet a lot of people.

We were briefed at the values day about a variety of sports and religious groups that we would be able to get involved with however, I did not become aware of any office-specific opportunities. On values day we were told what these activities were, but not how to join them or how often they took place.

Yes, I would recommend this insight to a friend. I felt like the opportunities and engagements that we were given were interesting and gave a good insight into what working at KPMG and in an audit job would be like if we were to pursue this further as a career after graduation.