Intern Review

This was an enjoyable experience however I would have preferred a little bit more interactivity - we did some Mentis and a Kahoot but I don't feel as though I have come away feeling like I really know anyone from EY who I could approach with questions. I also wish there had been a bit more technical training as I really took this internship to get a feel for the job which I'm not sure I did.

I think it would have been difficult to feel too valued given it was a virtual experience however the fact that there were 150 people on the call at a time meant that I did not feel like the runners were too bothered about me as an individual. I have no doubt that this would be different if I were in an office doing real work!

There was support and guidance provided with regards to the case study part of the experience. There wasn't really any other work to do so not much room for support and guidance there. The email address was manned well so I felt any queries I had were address promptly.

I don't think many skills were developed in this experience apart from teamwork and presentation which will be beneficial to my team. Given that for the majority of time, we were just being told about the job and EY as a company, there weren't many other skills that were gained.

I think the experience was very well structured and most transitions were seamless however we were not given an idea of the programme until the day it began and only got the programme for the next day at the beginning of the previous day which made it difficult to plan the rest of my time.

The atmosphere was good; we did lots of Mentis and a Kahoot on the last day which ensured that spirits were kept high which was good. The only improvement to the atmosphere would have been having my camera on and being off mute a bit more so I could interact with other interns. I would have loved a social experience in the evening to be arranged as well as I have heard lots of internships do this.

Given that this internship was shortened, I think that there was a lot less investment into the interns as there was not time to train people in how to conduct an audit, however there was some investment in terms of creating a programme which we could all engage in without having been trained. I think there was a good deal of investment into creating the programme as a whole as it was done quickly and for the first time ever.

The virtual experience was not hugely effective in showing the day to day experience in the full-time job as it is a job that requires significant training before being able to do it and there was not time to train all of the interns. A good overview of how the job fits with the professional qualification was provided, however, which is positive and gave a good insight into the job. The case study was also beneficial in showing the kind of people you may be presenting to and the timescale you may have to do the presentation.

This was a very effective way to show the culture at EY. We were spoken to by people in every position from graduate to partner as well as told about professional qualifications, extra-curricular opportunities, volunteering we could get involved with etc, and I think this also points to the culture at EY. We also had a more informal session with a graduate so that we could get a feel for the culture from someone who could give a more informal and honest opinion.

This was useful in determining whether EY would be the sort of place I might like to work but I'm not sure if I am more knowledgable about whether I would actually like to do the job on a daily basis as I have not really had an insight into that as there has not been enough time. We were encouraged to connect with all the speakers on LinkedIn which is useful to get further insights from them on where my career may go in future.

I will be paid in line with the salary for a graduate joiner at EY for my chosen service line for this virtual experience. I did not have any expenses so did not need to get anything reimbursed, however I have no doubt that if you did the in person experience any necessary costs would have been reimbursed by EY. When travelling to interviews and assessment centres, all of my travel expenses were quickly reimbursed.

There was networking with people who had recently started the graduate programme at EY in the specific service line that the internship was in, however it was difficult to have too much time to talk in detail as we only had a 30 min session and there were 8 of us to 1 graduate so I think that could have been done slightly better. We were also given the chance to ask questions to others in different positions who spoke to us.

The time which we were given to ask questions to any manager/partner who spoke to us was good but obviously not individual and the speakers did not have the opportunity to see our faces/remember our names. I would have loved to have an evening social event where the interns networked in smaller groups and managers/partners were able to drop in and out of groups so that we were able to have a more informal conversation.

Yes, we were provided with lots and lots of information about EY Networks, EY Badges, EY Foundation and other educational opportunities for EY employees to get involved with in their spare time. We were also told about EY sports teams and their commitment to helping those from disadvantaged backgrounds so there are lots of good things that EY employees can get involved in. It was also really great to hear that these opportunities are available to people as soon as they begin at EY.

I would recommend this virtual experience to a friend if they wanted to get a feel for the EY culture and what it might be like to join EY as a graduate. I would suggest that if the friend wanted a bit more of an idea about what if done in Assurance on a day-to-day basis, perhaps this is not the best place to do this, or more research would have to be done alongside the programme.