Assurance Virtual Summer Internship Review

A lot of effort clearly went in to organising this programme and in terms of my expectations for a virtual internship, the assurance summer internship completely exceeded these. The week was packed with lots of different sessions to build key skills, transferable into uni and also essential for joining on a grad scheme next year. I enjoyed having Q&As with many different employees from all levels of EY to gain a real insight into working at the company. Having also had the chance to complete a group case study and present to a partner was great. To top the week off, I've met some great people (also hoping to join the Yorkshire offices) who I can't wait to work with next year.

In such a big group of interns, taking part in an online event, I think it's hard to feel valued at the firm. But, communication was great and help was readily available for when technical glitches occurred and I really appreciated that. I feel confident that had this experience been an in person internship, then EY would have made me feel very valued in my position. This gives me confidence that I will feel valued in my role next year.

The agenda for each day and instructions to switch to other meetings were clear. In terms of the case study, it would have been better to have a mentor in during the first case study group meeting just to better clarify what we needed to do. Saying this, having two mentor sessions following this was very useful but I found that the mentor for my group didn't know too much detail about the specifics of the task. Maybe this could be communicated better to the mentors if the event runs again.

The range of skills I have developed throughout this week will benefit me massively in my degree studies. The presentation skills session will be useful for my assessed presentation next summer, I hope to incorporate mindfulness to help reduce stress levels in my final year and the time management skills will be essential as I continue with unscheduled online learning next term. Beyond my studies, I believe the skills I gained this week will be really beneficial when I join EY for a graduate role next year. It would have been nice to learn more audit related skills, possibly with a mini one-day book keeping course, just to make the skills even more applicable to a job in assurance.

The structure of the virtual internship was great, we didn't start too early and had ample time to get a lot done without becoming completely drained. There was always a good amount of comfort breaks within the day to keep me focussed. I liked how skills were developed in the morning and these could then be applied to the case study sessions in the afternoon. There was a good range of listening and interactive sessions to keep the say interesting.

In the smaller case study sessions, the atmosphere was great, I made a new friends and we were able to get to know each other, laugh and joke, whilst working hard to complete our case study. In the larger group sessions, the student recruitment team worked hard to keep up a good atmosphere and get people interacting but given the technical difficulties of not being able to access the chat function, I sometimes felt a little bit left out. An alternative platform to use for chats could maybe be considered next time. It would have been nice to have spent time getting to know more people on the programme in a few different break out sessions.

Lots of sessions were provided to help develop my skillset. lots of members of student recruitment were woking with us which therefore feels like the firm were very invested. lots of different speakers also gave up a lot of their time to deliver a variety of sessions. It's especially nice that partners became involved, having time to communicate and interact with people so high up within the firm really helped me develop. Thank you for everything EY.

It was great to get an insight from different employees at EY, telling us about their career, their experiences, their progression, highs and lows. I feel knowledgeable about what it is like to work within an EY office but it would have been nice to experience more of what the service line is like. I'm not sure how possible it would be but I feel like a short book keeping course or more case study type work would have helped me understand what a full time role in assurance would look like.

lots of speakers covering different topics such as diversity and inclusion, health at EY made me realise how invested EY are in creating a good company culture. EY are clearly invested in their people and it is clearly a really nice place to work. The amount of EY employees that had great things to see about working at EY really makes me confident that I've chosen the right company for a future career. I can't wait to start.

The content was not too informative as to whether the assurance service line is definitely the career path for me. But the experience has certainly shown me that EY is the company that I would like to start my career with. There is clearly a lot of flexibility to travel to different places and try new service lines once qualified which gives me confidence that I will have a great career with EY, developing a lot throughout my career.

The pay that was stated in the offer letter was very adequate for this experience. I'm very thankful that not only did EY decide to go ahead with a virtual internship but they were also able to pay us for this.

There were lots of opportunities to meet employees from all levels of the business, from recent grads to partners. All of the speakers were happy to be connected with on linkedIn with some even providing their email for further questions and contact to be made. It was really good to split off into small groups to talk to people from the office that I have applied to to get an insight into exactly what the working environment of the office I am joining is like. I just wish we got the opportunity to visit in person.

We had a really informative session about the different EY networks which was really insightful. It was also great to learn about the different opportunities to learn and develop e.g. EY badges. Having conversations with EY employees from the office I had applied to was great for getting an insight into the office specific socials. It seems like there is always a lot going on outside of work and a lot of opportunities to really get to know the other people within your office.

I would 100% recommend this to a friend. although I would have loved to take part in the usual summer internship programme, in the current circumstances I am really impressed with the student recruitment team for making this experience work so well. Not only have I learnt valuable skills but having then been fast tracked to a final interview for a place on the grad scheme and securing this for next year, makes the experience even better.