Virtual Summer Intern Review

The Virtual Summer Internship Programme (Assurance) at EY was a highly enjoyable experience overall. It was extremely impressive to witness just how much the organising team managed to fit into one virtual week; we were exposed to so many different aspects of working at EY and also got a good chance to get into the case study. Though we missed out on 6 weeks in the office due to COVID-19, I still believe that we benefitted greatly from this single week.

One would always assume interns to not be hugely valued - virtual ones even less so! - but so many different people from all over the business gave up their time to talk to us and make us feel valued and welcome. I was pleasantly surprised at how valued we were, despite not being able to complete actual work for the business. Friendly interaction and genuine responses to questions made the interns not feel like a bother.

The guidance and support was second-to-none. The student recruitment team were able to answer any questions we had (and managed to run the whole week so smoothly!) and even at varying levels within the service line, the guidance was efficient and always done with a friendly face which really helps. My group's mentor went out of his way to seek out extra information to answer our questions and get back to us on the more difficult questions, even reaching out to a colleague to help us further.

I believe that the skills developed will hold me in good stead for a career in audit or assurance, and even some of the transferable skills in all walks of life. Particular highlights and opportunities to upskill included: - time management - producing a highest performing team - creating and presenting compelling content Tips given throughout were applicable to my degree studies and future work almost any job and industry that I may end up in.

The Virtual Internship was extremely well-structured. Given the notable lack of Summer Internship Programmes from the other Big 4 firms during COVID-19, this SIP has been even more of an achievement. There are technological limits to most things, but the schedule was jam-packed and we always had a central meeting to dial back into if there were any questions. The agenda for the following day was circulated the afternoon before and allowed ample time for breaks.

It is hard to create an atmosphere during a Virtual Programme but somehow the student recruitment team in the Assurance SIP managed to create a positive and relaxed place to be! It is hard not meeting the other interns in person, nor the team running the event but any interaction we did have (including in the chat box) was friendly and laid-back. [This section of the comment has been removed by a member of the RateMyPlacement Team because it did not meet our site terms and conditions]should be commended for their commitment to making this week so positive - thank you.

The firm gave us a large range of talks about personal training and development, from soft skills to service line-specific talks. They also managed to have a decently wide range of speakers from across the business talk to us which definitely helped. A one-to-one style mentoring perhaps may have been an opportunity to increase investment in my personal training, but I understand how this was difficult to facilitate and make useful on a Virtual Experience.

It is quite hard for this to be the case given the Virtual Experience and not having visited the office but given the constraints, they did a good job. The people we spoke to explained well how it is to work in their offices, but also working from home during the pandemic and the dynamic working being championed by EY. This is a good thing to hear, but in-person would of course have been better if possible.

Many of the events during this experience were around the subject of the company culture, and even those that were not predominantly about company culture referenced it. Perhaps most notable was the casual references and positive discussion of company culture in the more informal sections - when asking anyone what they like about their work they were able to discuss the culture of their workplace with a thoughtful and generally positive outlook which was very helpful.

This content was valuable in helping me learn that Assurance is a service line in which I would be happy working. I was unsure about this before and was expecting to be none-the-wise once the in-person Internship was cancelled, but have been pleasantly surprised that the case study provided me with good understanding about the work involved in this job. I can only imagine how much 6 weeks in an office would have helped me decide!

I am to be paid for this experience despite it only being one week long and virtual, which I think is really brilliant. I believe the salary was £21,000 per annum but I may be misremembering slightly.

Yes there were as many opportunities for networking and meeting other employees of the firm as possible given the Virtual constraints. Nowhere near as many if we were in the real office, unfortunately, but a good attempt was made nonetheless. The organising team were very good. All the people who we did meet were happy to chat, connect and help in any way that they could which was greatly beneficial to all of us interns, despite the virtual nature.

These were not the best opportunities but that was likely only due to the Virtual nature of the event - and the human nature of people! But the opportunities that did arise were genuine on behalf of the people involved.

Yes we did find out about these activities. We received lots of information about EY Networks and the EY Foundation (the charity arm of the firm). We were told about the different faith and race networks, women's networks, LGBT+ networks, parents, caring - too many to state!

Absolutely. There is no doubt in my mind that I would recommend this Virtual Summer Internship Programme to a friend wondering about a potential role in Assurance at EY. It is a fantastic alternative to a 6 week internship given the constraints of the world in 2020 and I do not feel as disadvantaged as I may have previously thought by COVID-19's impact on my career. We were given such a good opportunity to learn about the firm.