Summer Audit intern Review

The 4 weeks went very fast, there were many roles we had to undertake from working on client accounts, using data from the company and other services they may use to come to a conclusion on whether the data provided is inline with the companies financial status. On top of that, we had to manage our time well properly as we worked on a dragons den project + other commitments we had to make. The Dragon Den project is exactly what you think it is as you have to promote a CIC business. Joining client meetings regularly and taking minutes were some tasks I undertook. Working on presentations and writing up reports for your managers on information taken from client files are also done on a daily basis.

i have learnt many skills from developing my communication skills as I not only liaised with colleagues but also clients as well on a daily basis. Some other skills which were crucial were organisation and time management skills, you are given loads of work to do which are very different for different managers, therefore you have to ensure to balance your time between tasks throughout the week. Due to the large amount of work, organisation skills are very important. These skills were definitely improved on over the 4 weeks. As I'm not from an audit background, I learnt the basics of audit which was very interesting - which was taught very well from the team.

In terms of leading client projects we weren't given much responsibility, however when it came to undertaken tasks of significant importance we were given responsibility to complete them in a timely manner for clients and up to a high standard. We were trusted to complete accounts which are highly sensitive and have access to them which i am appreciative of. The Dragons Den projects was a project for interns, where we were responsible for all the work we had completed and then presenting to a board. We are allocated to one client where you typically do a lot of work on them including joining meetings with them and understand their business

Support and guidance was fantastic at PwC, at the beginning of the internship, we were allocated a buddy and a career coach who supported me throughout the 4 weeks. My buddy often helped me on work I struggled on and guided me throughout the office and often stuck with me throughout the day. My career coach really helped me understand my goals of the internship and how to reach them, she always set the foundations for the internship. There are also various online help sites on the company intranet and you can reach out to people. Everyone at the company is approachable and very friendly, so you can go to whoever for help.

The company culture was fantastic, everyone is very welcoming, approachable, helpful and caring. The company host a bunch of events, from events for mental health but also have societies like the Jewish and Muslim society where people can get together and share their thoughts. Teams often go on drinks after a year end of a client, a fantastic way to celebrate. Their are always many community activities you can participate in such as the social mobility and sustainability programmes. Offices in the midlands tend to have sports teams, I was a part of a 5 aside football team which was amazing to go out with colleagues against other businesses.

The internship was very enjoyable, the tasks itself were varied, however did seem a little bit repetitive at times, though this mainly due to the fact that we as interns aren't trained. The team was fantastic, i was surrounded by very helpful, smart individuals whom I learnt off every single day. The culture is fantastic, our team often went in to the office where we would go work through together and ask for help when needed, I would often shadow associates. In terms of expectations, I got everything out of this internship, I set goals before hand and they were all achieved. I learnt new things, developed my business acumen, built my network and importantly really enjoyed it! I am hopefully taking the 2023 grad scheme next year after finishing university!

Yes

my main advice for the interview would be to understand the values of the company, really ensure these are also personal values of yours. Look into the PwC professional and develop on those, talk about how these will really help and how you possess these attributes. The assessment centre is tough, build up on your organisation and time management skills as there will be many varied tasks and you will have to be able navigate around the building to different meetings with staff/ clients. If i reapplied, I would try to gauge the values of the company, I would've loved to know what audit was generally about before hand, however i don't feel disadvantaged at all as I learnt a lot by the team. i joined mainly because of the nature of the job, work life balance is fantastic compared to the big 4, the office is close to home, the values really aligned to my personal values.