Tax Summer Intern Review

The virtual experience was an amazing substitution to the Summer Internship Programme by EY. The team at EY put a lot of effort into ensuring we interns were still able to gather relevant and insightful knowledge into the company. It was interactive, using Mintel, the Microsoft Teams Live sessions were insightful and the group case study gave us a great chance to work as a team despite completing the Internship from home. Altogether, I would really recommend EY for any students looking to do a placement or internship. The quality of service provided is second to none and you will finish the placement with so much knowledge and insight into an amazing company.

The company made me feel extremely valued during the virtual internship, as I know they would have had we actually been in the office. There were interactive sessions set up purely to get us involved which was a really good step on their part. They used mintel to have us doing ice breakers & there was even a quiz on the final day. I felt very valued during my time. Interning for the Belfast office, I especially felt valued with the Belfast Team meetings at the end of each day.

Due to this being the first year EY have had to complete a Summer Internship virtually, of course there were going to be some difficulties. I experienced technical difficulties on the first day and the support I received from the Belfast office was second to none. We were provided with so much guidance as to what we were doing each day, with the Agenda posted at the beginning of every morning, and received amazing support during our case study task in the form of our mentor.

I especially enjoyed the Microsoft Live Teams meeting on Time Management and Presentation Skills. I know I will be able to feed this knowledge into my University work and benefit from it. The mindfulness session has taught me that it is ok to take a step back and calm down and I will definitely be using the meditation tips I gathered from that session during particularly stressful periods of my degree. The case study task has given me an insight into what it is like to work with a team efficiently & I will use the tips I learned from this in my time at University.

The structure of the Virtual Internship was flawless. We logged on 15 minutes before our start time in the morning to ensure everything was going smoothly & to allow the team to take registry. We were then provided with the Agenda for the day at the start of the sessions and everything was well broken down. There was a good balance between interactive activities and live sessions where we were provided with information. Afternoons usually consisted of meeting in our task groups and each day there was 15 minutes set aside to close off the day. We were given 1 hour for lunch and a 15 minute comfort break in the afternoon. It was very, very well structured.

I found the atmosphere during the experience to be positive. The interns were willing to learn and the team at EY we’re more than willing to teach us. EY were so committed to being able to provide their interns with an amazing experience, despite the COVID-19 crisis, and that they did. Each day was fantastic and positive and ran smoothly. I always felt motivated and eager during the sessions. I would definitely recommend this experience as it was a very positive one and one I will remember.

We were given as much training as possible under the circumstances. Had we been able to complete our internships in the office, I could imagine it would be much different to the information we received. However, the quality of information provided was exceptional and really enjoyable to listen to. We were able to learn about the different EY networks, something which I’m not sure would have been covered in the office, and it was so insightful.

I believe my sessions with the Belfast team at the end of each day have me the biggest insight into what it would be like to work for EY. Each day we had a speaker from different sub service lines log onto Teams and tell us about their team and what they do. It was so insightful as I got to understand the difference in what the teams do & I also found one team in particular that I found extremely interesting.

The Microsoft Teams live sessions in particular really helped showcase EY culture. They are all about their staff & making their staff feel welcome and comfortable within the company. We received talks on Health & Well-being, Diversity & Mindfullness, and all of these sessions gave us a huge insight into EY as a company and how supportive they are or their employees. I definitely learned a lot about EY culture as the team did really well at showing us the company culture.

The content was extremely helpful in helping me decide. In particular, our session on Professional Qualifications really helped me understand the different routes I can take in become a chartered accountant and possibly working for EY in the future. I have definitely decided that I would love to work for EY in the future and I was able to decide on a sub service line which has really peaked my interest and I would love to go into in the future.

A lot of speakers provided their email or names and told us to contact them if we had any questions which was greatly appreciated as it allows me as an intern to build connections. I believe the opportunities to network were outstanding as we were able to connect with speakers on LinkedIn. The Belfast office in particular allowed us to meet a lot of employees from within different service lines as they spoke to us about their team.

We were given an amazing chance to break down into smaller groups to work on a case study task. This was amazing as it allowed me to connect with people I otherwise would have never met, and work with them as a team. The interns have all connected on linked in & these connections are ones that would not have been made otherwise so the opportunities provided were outstanding. I really enjoyed getting to meet new people.

We were given sessions about the different EY networks which was amazing to hear as they do act as extra activities outside of work & allow you to connect with employees from other service lines who you may have otherwise not have worked with. This was definitely appealing to me as I enjoy being part of a group. We were told by the speakers about the different events that are organised by the different networks and this sounded great.

I would absolutely recommend this experience to a friend. The information and service provided by the team at EY was second to none and they worked so hard to provide us with an amazing week despite the COVID-19 crisis. The team were so helpful & the information was so insightful. I learned so much about what it would be like to begin a career with EY and what the company stands for in terms of their value for their employees.