Business Consulting Intern Review

I thought the virtual internship was fantastic, it was really well organised and the student recruitment team were really positive and energetic throughout. The technology worked well and the week was structured nicely to give everyone enough breaks and reflection time. The experience was very focused on EY company culture, which was really interesting and obviously a big part of what you would have learnt in the traditional 6 week internship, however I found that there wasn't as much focus on the career aspect and particular service line, which you would have had from the traditional experience, but that is the nature of being online and not being immersed in real projects.

I definitely felt valued and included and there was a big emphasis on making sure that everyone felt comfortable in asking any questions, that the technology was working for everyone to interact, and there was a lot of positive feedback on presentations and any questions that were asked that definitely made me feel valued. Everyone was very excited about speaking to us and no one seemed to look down on us for being young/unexperienced at any point.

There was continual support throughout the internship, in terms of the student recruitment team being ready and willing to answer any questions or guide us if we got mixed up with Teams links, as well as Buddy Q&A sessions and a mentor for our consulting project. We also had a lot of guidance in terms of what to expect if we join the firm, across a variety of elements, such as further education, networks and health support.

The daily schedule was shorter than I was expecting, however for the time that we were online it was really busy and well planned. We had enough scheduled breaks to keep us fresh, and the schedule was very varied in terms of the diversity of people and topics for the talks, so I think that it was a really well planned and executed daily schedule. There wasn't intense work due that we had to catch up after the day ended, so it was nice to be able to fully relax once the internship day was over.

Due to the nature of the online and shortened internship, we didn't have a lot of direct responsibility, however we had a project to work on that reflected a real life project, so I think everyone really focused on taking responsibility for that and putting every effort into it, and all of the presentations turned out really great as a result. I don't feel at all as if EY wouldn't have trusted us with responsibility, just that due to the nature of the situation it wasn't relevant.

I think the skills that we have focused on, both directly and indirectly, during this week have been, and will be, very useful and applicable in terms of degree studies and also the working world. All of them have been flexible skills that are useful in any situation, for example time management and public speaking. In addition, technological and virtual presenting skills, as well as reinforcing teamwork skills through our group project, have been subtly developed throughout the week.

Everyone who we spoke to was extremely positive and energised. The student recruitment team were always bubbly and motivational, and all of the guest speakers were really passionate about what they spoke about, which created a very healthy atmosphere where I felt comfortable to ask any question. Everyone who spoke to us was very complimentary about EY's office culture and I think that really stood out in the atmosphere that was created, even on this virtual internship.

I think that the student recruitment team did a fantastic job on this; to organise a virtual internship for the first time and have it run this smoothly was very impressive. Teams Links were all set up and emailed to us every day and not only was the schedule clear and well planned, but the communication was also great. I think that EY has definitely managed to set up a fantastic, well organised programme, especially in such a short time.

I think that EY definitely put a huge amount of effort into educating us on company culture and it has been really interesting. Due to the nature of the virtual shortened experience, I think it is a pity that we didn't get to experience more 'on the job' activity and develop our personal skillset further in that sense, focusing on job-specific skills, however this is due to the situation. EY nonetheless organised a daily learning session of flexible skills, such as public speaking and time management.

Very appealing! All of EY's current employees who spoke to us were very positive on employment prospects within the company, and I think that EY has a huge amount of opportunities for anyone looking at this line of business. The variety of service lines and competencies allows people to find job prospects in an area that they are interested and passionate about. Being a global company, the job prospects are also found around the world, so at a global level I think that there are strong employment prospects within EY.

N/A with virtual internship

Yes, lots! Although we didn't get the opportunity to do so due to the virtual nature, we had a lot of talks on the options and there was a huge variety. EY Networks seem to be a really big part of life, and almost everyone who spoke to us was involved in these. I think this is a big part of how EY creates such a positive work culture, through existing outside of just client work.