Assurance Intern Review

EY is a fantastic company with a fantastic culture. The internship was meant to be around 6 weeks, but due to COVID it became virtual and 1 week long. There was a lot of work put into the internship by organising a lot of talks for us. I wasn't a fan of this because it felt more like a spring week and I wanted to do more work. We had one case study, which was the best part of the week, but I think we could've had more work. Also, other companies like Barclays and HSBC had 6 weeks long internships, so I don't see why EY couldn't do that. Nonetheless, I presume this is a one off event and the company is great, so I am looking forward to joining it next year.

The company really values its employees. The aura there is just different from the other three main auditing companies. Every person in EY that you speak to is incredibly nice and they want to engage with you, so you feel valued. They also really look out for your health, which is definitely appreciated.

There was a lot of support, as we had the chance to engage with quite a few different people from EY, ranging from people at your office to partners. Quite often everyone is happy to speak to you individually after every session, if you just send them a message, which was also appreciated.

As it was only a week long internship and we did not do much work, I do not feel that I have learnt a lot. There was some insight through the case study how audits are completed, which was definitely beneficial, but I have studied some accounting and finance at uni, so I did not learn much about the financial aspects of the audit.

The virtual experience was well structured. We had the agenda for every day and the schedule was followed tightly, so there was no waste of time. However, we would only receive the agenda for the next day, so we did not know what is coming up in the rest of the week. It would have been better if we were emailed the agenda for the week, instead of telling us the day before what is coming up the next day.

I felt quite unmotivated because the vast majority of the sessions were on the call with 150 other people. We had our cameras and audio off for the majority of the day, so it felt more like a lecture and I did not feel engaged. We were just told information in each session. Plus, when we got to ask questions, not all of them would be answered, as there were 150 other people asking questions, so they didn't have the time to answer all of them. I was engaged in the case study, as I got to do some work and I got to engage with my team members, so more of that would have been beneficial.

I don't think the firm invested much in me, as I was usually on a call with 150 other people, so it did not feel tailored for me. Nonetheless, I am sure when I join, the firm is very supportive and helps us individually, as we were told in the information sessions.

There was a lot of content, explaining what it would be like to have a full time role with the company, which was definitely beneficial. We got to have a call once in a smaller group with EY employees, so they were able to answer our questions and tell us how they are finding EY.

The company spend a lot of time during the virtual experience explaining the culture of the firm, which I do believe that they were able to explain that well to us. It would have obviously been nice to actually visit the office, but that is obviously outside of EY's control in 2020.

The content was really valuable in helping me decide on my future career path, as they spent a lot of time telling us what the job entails and what we would end up doing. They did also say they would us support us in our accounting studies during the job, so that is good to hear.

There were quite a few opportunities for networking, as we got to hear from a lot of people during the week and we could add them on LinkedIn and then we could engage further with them. So, in short, we had quite a few opportunities for networking and meeting other employees.

They told us quite a bit about their activities outside of work. They often go for meals together, they also have a table tennis table in their office, which is incredibly popular. Also, the Luton office has a PS4 in the office, which is also good to hear, so there is a lot of stuff that employees can do in their free time.