Summer intern Review

I enjoyed my placement a lot, and was able to engage in a wide range of engagements and activities. The first week of inductions was really useful and helped me find my feet in the company. The next 2 weeks were probably the most enjoyable, as I was able to work on a large engagement through which I learned a lot and was able to apply my university accounting knowledge. The last 3 weeks were very busy which gave me varying sizes of tasks to do, which I learned a lot from.

On the most part the colleagues were really kind and welcoming, especially my buddy. The partner however seemed quite unwelcoming. My buddy took me out for lunch on my first day in the office and had regular catch up sessions to make sure I was doing ok and to give the chance to ask any questions I had. On the last day everyone was really kind and mentioned that they really appreciated the help and work I did.

I feel like my buddy helped a lot and provided support whenever I needed it. My counsellor also did so but on a lower scale, and so it felt more difficult to be able to ask him for support. Other seniors amongst the team were very useful and always provided me with work when I was available which was helpful as an intern.

I was lucky with my placement in that my team always had work for me, and on a variety of tasks so I was able to gain a lot of experience and knowledge. Only on a couple days did I not have much work to do. I was put on large engagements which meant I was always occupied which I found to be fulfilling and what I wanted out of the internship.

Being out on large engagements felt like a lot of responsibility and I was extremely grateful to have received that opportunity as an intern. It is not something I had expected to receive when I joined. I was trusted to create documents which were of high importance to the clients.

I was able to apply my accounting knowledge from my degree to the work I was doing and see it in a practical light. This was really useful from both an academic and career perspective and allowed me to enhance my skills on a large scale. I made sure to take regular notes which I feel will aid me in my final year of university and also in my future career.

At times the office atmosphere was quite nice but a lot of the time it was quite mellow, probably because everyone was quite busy. However I do feel that some people could’ve made more of an effort to reciprocate engaging with me as an intern, when I had made an effort to do so.

Following on from my previous internship and spring week, I was fast tracked for the assessment centre. Following the AC I was told I would find out in 2 months regarding the outcome of my application however despite numerous emails sent on my part to the company I did not receive any replies. 6 months later I got a reply to say I had misunderstood the offer email and I would have a call from EY to discuss this. When they called they said they had mistakenly sent the email and my offer still stood and I would receive the contract in a week. This was extremely unprofessional and unsettling. I did not receive the contract until 2 months later again when I had to ring the office to ask what was happening, after which I received it in 30 mins. I was told my name had not been processed on the system which again was unprofessional and unsettling for me. When I arrived at the office my name had again not been processed, and there was no laptop or IT equipment set up for me, and throughout the internship I did not receive the majority of the SIP related emails that other interns did receive.

I don’t feel we were provided much training. The IT induction was not very useful, and we were not Told how to use timesheets or Skype unless we asked our buddies. I feel this is something that should be included in the IT induction. I feel an excel induction would also be very useful.

Very appealing. I really hope to get the graduate job offer. Having done an internship here 2 years ago, and being invited back to do another one was really pleasing for me and I took the offer without thinking twice as I knew this is exactly what I wanted to do.

Not really. I feel everyone was really busy and unless there was an official organised social like partner breakfasts, I don’t think we would have socialised at all. The colleagues however were really sociable and invited me out to events and the summer party, as well as lunches which was really nice.

Really expensive. Because I don’t live in London the cost of living and renting was really expensive. Other friends with offers in other companies had their accommodation paid for or at least subsided and I feel this would have made socialising and budgeting much more as a student if this had been done by a company.

The nightlife was quite mellow. I don’t feel it was very open / inviting. The area was very corporate and so it did not feel like nightlife was very inviting in the area I worked. There were a few restaurants around which I went to but nothing other than that.

Not at all.