Summer Intern Review

The 6 week summer internship programme was very well organised by HR and the team I was placed in. There were a variety of events held throughout the internship, such as socials and Partner talks, allowing for us to get to know each other as an intern cohort and for us to understand how EY operates as a company.

We were given two client projects to participate on but we could easily branch out and explore other projects by reaching out. I felt that the work we all did added value to the team; interns created automated tools in software such as Alteryx, analysis tools in Excel, and so much more. The feedback we got from the permanent colleagues in the team all suggested that the work we did was valued, and we weren’t given meaningless tasks.

I had weekly meetings with my ‘buddy’ and my ‘counsellor’. A buddy in this case was a graduate, someone on a similar level, and a counsellor is someone two grades above, which in this case was a manager. They both offered advice on how to maximise the internship opportunity, helped with our assigned intern projects by providing information, and supported us by giving us access to their networks to branch out and interact with colleagues from other teams.

The workload was somewhat consistent. There were peaks and troughs; some days I was really busy, others I had a lot of free time, although the latter was more towards the end of the internship since I was wrapping up my work on projects. For most of the time though, there was always something to do, and I was never bored.

There were so many opportunities for responsibility in the internship. For me, this included helping with organising a team social, a charity bake sale and helping to train two employees based in India so they could continue the work I started. I was responsible for sourcing my own work the majority of the time, which gave an accurate reflection of what life could be as a graduate within EY.

I study Geography so my role was not directly applicable. However the Excel, coding and software skills I gained will definitely be useful for my course, given the quantitative aspects of some of my modules. Outside of my degree, I definitely feel that the skills I learned will be highly applicable to any career I go into, given that they are universal. I also developed soft skills such as communication and teamwork.

The office was somewhat quiet since the majority of my team was often out on client meetings, so there was never a time when everyone was in. The majority of the graduates were on study leave for most of my time at EY, so it did feel quiet for most of the internship. However, whenever the team was around, the atmosphere was great; everyone was friendly and would happily offer help if needed.

HR organised it very well with several activities set up. These included networking drinks, to socials as previously mentioned. We had two CSR days; one doing tree maintenance, and the other was organising an event to raise funds for EY Foundation. They clearly have a lot of experience with running internships successfully.

Personal training and development wise, there was access to online learning via Udemy which I used in my spare time to learn software such as Alteryx and code such as SQL. However, there wasn’t much formal training; it was very much learn on the job. My team was somewhat special in a sense as we had a separate team induction not organised by HR, and we attended two days of talks, so I feel my team specifically did help us develop personally and professionally. However, I do not know if this is consistent for all the interns.

The opportunity to qualify with an ACA and becoming a chartered accountant is appealing. The qualification is very well regarded which is what attracts me to the grad scheme alongside the people I worked with. There is the opportunity to explore other teams in my department as well, which is something I’m not sure is offered across all departments. I would likely accept the offer if given the chance.

There was a decently good social scene alongside the other interns in my team, however as a cohort, there was nothing aside from the HR organised events. My team had three socials; joining drinks, leaving drinks and a SIP (summer internship programme) organised social. This was good how we managed to interact with our team in a social setting.

I lived in Zone 1 in central London and paid around £600 in rent. This is cheap for London but compared to the rest of the UK, it is not cheap. Food and drink wasn’t cheap either; for example, alcohol cost around £5-£6 a pint which was high but expected for London.

I did not really experience the nightlife in London, so I do not feel as if I can offer an opinion on this. However, I am aware that tickets do cost significantly more than they do in other cities and alcohol itself isn’t cheap so it isn’t an affordable activity.

EY does offer groups such as diversity groups, but I did not participate in anything due to the short time span of the internship.