Summer Vacation Student Review

As a summer vacation student, my role was to work with the associates on the job and report to the assistant manager. It involved a lot of fairly simple stuff, like creating summaries/reviews of important audit material or meetings. There was typically a call in the morning and the afternoon to catchup with the team and update what progress has been made. Some training activities with compliance and induction training in your first two days

I have learned a lot of skills in Excel to make things quicker and easier as there are lots of files on there. I have developed my communication skills working as part of a larger team. Organisational skills have also improved because I'd have to be careful of my workload and ensure when I do and don't have capacity for more tasks. There is many other company software which I become accustomed to on the day to day/

Yes I was heavily involved on my internship and was given greater exposure to the business as I grew into the team. Earlier tasks were not as meaningful but as you head into the 2nd and 3rd week of the scheme, your work scales up. The team also gave me a lot of autonomy whereby I could control my workload at my pace, and would check up occasionally to ensure that I'm on track.

A lot of support from line manager, buddy and the wider team. Human resource team was also in constant contact with every intern, ensuring we were getting on well. Worked with 2 different teams therefore had the support from each individual on the job. Everyone was also was open to helping and providing me guidance on what I can do improve. Weekly meetings with line manager about my development so that I can feedback on board.

Great culture and very friendly. Some pressure to get work done but at an understandable pace especially due to my short term role and my limited technical knowledge which would typically come from on the job experience. Managers. were great and very understanding telling me feel free to log off straight away at 5:30. Some associates would try to pile mundane work onto you but this is expected being an intern and not being able to receive a deeper workload.

Loved the experience. Well prepared for when I leave university as a graduate and provided me with more confidence that I can be a great fit for a working environment. Furthermore, the structured nature of the internship felt very good and the routine I had built to support myself proved to me I am prepared for life in employment. Speaking to a variety of individuals from many diverse backgrounds, upbringings, and education was particularly great to do and I learnt a lot as a result.

Yes

Smash the interview. Be yourself and just make it a conversation with the interviewer. You'll be more relaxed if you see it that way. Interviewers are not trying to catch you out so don't give them a reason to. Just show your personality, be confident in your answers, and even add a little joke in. They like to see you that you are a likeable individual, who they could see themselves work with in future so don't be too rigid.