Assurance Summer Intern Review

The virtual Summer Internship Program started with an introduction from senior staff in the Assurance service line. This was followed by sessions introducing EY and explaining what they do and what they stand for as a company. Throughout the program there were many personal development sessions including sessions on wellbeing, diversity and inclusion, business etiquette and emotional intelligence. There was also many opportunities to interact with current staff within the organisation, providing the opportunity to ask any questions. The assessed element of the internship involved completing and presenting a case study with a group of interns. The task was to assess the impact of the pandemic on a retail brand and work out what risks this posed for the current year audit. Throughout the internship we were supported by a buddy and a mentor who were really able to get to know, making it easy to feel comfortable asking them questions.

The internship was a great opportunity to develop many of my existing skills with lots of time dedicated to specific skills. In particular, I feel that I have improved my team-working skills by attending a session entitled 'Highest Performing Teams' where lots of in-depth guidance was given as to how to work best in a team - it was also great to apply this in the case study element of the internship. Another key skill I have learned over the internship is the importance of emotional intelligence, and how asking open questions can put people at ease when communicating with you, making conversation flow much more naturally A range of other skills I have improved include resilience, mindfulness and presenting.

We were given little responsibility during the internship as the whole program followed a school-like timetable. The mornings consisted of attending sessions where we would listen to a range of speakers who would each talk on a different topic/skill. The afternoons then consisted of working with a group of interns on a case study where more independence was required, however, the only goal of this was to produce a presentation to deliver to a single mentor to help decide if we were suitable for the graduate role.

Lots of support and guidance was provided by EY as we were assigned a mentor, who assisted on the case study element of the internship, and also a buddy, who we had specific sessions with to receive personal and career guidance. My mentor was particularly helpful and understood that not all of us had previous experience in the industry so was able to explain many terms and concepts to us to allow us to complete the case study to the best of our ability. My buddy was also very open and happy to answer any questions - it was nice to build a personal connection with someone in the company and have such an open view into what working at EY is like.

The company has a really positive culture with a huge focus on its people. It was mentioned many times that EY does not sell a product, it is entirely about the people that work for the company and what they can provide for the clients. There are many networks allowing for many different groups of people to connect together and engage with people they feel they are similar to. There is a massive focus on diversity and inclusion, with the company outlining many targets to ensure EY is inclusive for all. We were also told that EY has many sports teams, providing opportunity to connect with other staff members across the organisation.

There were elements of the internship that were much more enjoyable than others. Some of the morning sessions which mostly consisted of listening to a speaker were very engaging and useful for personal development, however others were not that useful and took up a large portion of the day. I really enjoyed the case study element of the internship as it allowed me to connect with other interns and work on a task together which was much more engaging than the speaker sessions.

Yes

My advice is generic, but it would be to just be yourself and be confident. EY seems like an organisation which is entirely built up of the people that work there so they are looking for individuals who will fit in with their culture. For the assessment centre, make sure you engage with the task and add valuable input whilst supporting the other people in your group - they are looking at how you work in a group, not only as an individual.