Tax Intern Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my virtual experience with the Tax service line at EY. The Student Recruitment team created a week that was insightful, interesting and thoroughly engaging. I learnt a lot about EY as a company, along with their values and beliefs. Further, the Tax team provided insightful talks where we learnt about Indirect Tax as well as a general introduction to tax. The case study that we worked on over the course of the week was a truly inspiring insight into the life of a tax professional and provided a welcomed challenge to the internship.

I felt very valued during my time at the firm. The Student Recruitment team guided us throughout each day and became a friendly face that I felt I could approach with any questions throughout the internship. We had talks regarding mental health within the firm as well as diversity and inclusivness that ensured I felt valued and welcome. The mentors that I spoke to were also friendly and informative and made us feel as if we were colleagues already!

There was an exceptional amount of guidance and support given throughout the virtual experience. The team were on hand at all times if there were technical issues and I found it very helpful that we knew the agenda of the day, the day before. Emails were also sent out with the details of the day. Members of staff have also kindly given out contact details so that we may contact them with any questions we may have. Their kindness and generosity here has not gone unnoticed.

The skils I have developed throughout the course of the internship will serve me best beyond my degree and into the workplace. We have had talks on working well in a team for example. I have always enjoyed working in a team, but the talk on becomming a "highest performing team" has really stuck with me and I look forward to employing these techniques in the workplace. We also received a talk on mindfulness, that should help me to prioritise work and destress - important parts of achieving a healthy work-life balance.

The virtual experience was very well structured - it was obvious that a lot of time and hard work had gone into creating the experience. There was a clear agenda to each day that we were made aware of on the previous day. There were also desginated times for lunch and an afternoon break that I also found helpful to ensure I was concentration fully during the sessiosns themselves. The strucuture really added to the enjoyment of the experience.

The generally atmosphere was extremely positive. It was clear that many people were enagaged by asking lots of questions. The live Q&A panels and talks allowed lots of people to engage together with current employees who demonstrated a real passion for their job and for EY. I also thoroughly enjoyed working with my team during the case study each afternoon as we worked well as a team. It was a pleasure getting to know like minded people.

It appeared that there were no limits to the extent that EY invested in us as interns. We received talks regarding mental health, mindfulness, professional exams etc., all of which are given to EY employees. EY treated us as though we were full-time employees and for this I give them full respect. This is clearly a company that cares about its employees and would be a firm I would be very luck to work for.

The obvious difficulty with understanding what it would be like to have a full time role lies within the fact that it was impossible this year to have an internship at an EY office. However, our case study provided an engaging insight into the type of work that I would be completing as a tax professional. Moreover, the talks on the EY Badges scheme as well as their Networks also highlighted that many ways that employees can get involved in at EY.

The company culture was made very clear throughout the virtual experience. EY clearly cares about its employees, along with acknowledgint that with greater diversity, comes greater experience and therefore a greater firm.

The content was very useful in helping to decide my future career path. I have learnt a lot not only about Tax, but also about EY in itself. I am very grateful to the whole team involved for creating such an informative week under very challenging circumstances.

I was indeed paid and for that I am very grateful.

There were a large number of opportunities to meet other employees of EY. We received many talks and live Q&As with current employees and we were always encouraged to ask questions. Contact details were also made available so that we could contact employees with further questions. I also met with my mentors who were very kind and knowledgable. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting with the employees who I'm sure I will contact with any further questions I have!

The networking/ social opportunities were very useful, especially considering the difficult circumstances presented by Covid-19.

We had many talks about what EY employees can get involved in outside of work. It is great that EY promote health (including physical health) and also promote getting involved with their Networks as well as the EY Badge scheme.

I would definitely recommend this virtual experience to anyone interested as I had a thoroughly enjoyable time.