Consulting Intern Review

On a day-to-day basis I was assisting on an external client project and on internal tasks. I was both shadowing and understanding the client project whilst also being assigned tasks to complete, often within Powerpoint or research to then be converted into a Powerpoint slide. The team walked me through the client work, in my case it was insurance related, and helped me understand the world of insurance so I could then complete more complex tasks. The team also assisted me with finding information regarding my internal solution placemat which I was tasked with creating. While I wasn't working on these things I was shadowing meetings or discussing the company/sector with team members so I could gain a wide understanding of the company.

I have developed my problem solving and collaboration skills as I worked on client projects with a wider team. I had to think outside the box for ideas and also developed my Power-point skills a lot as this was something I was often using within my day-to day activities. We also undertook Chartered Management Institute training (and receiving a certificate) which will greatly benefit my no matter my career path as this gave my insight into coaching skills, managing a team and hybrid working skills. We were allocated 4 hours a week to dedicate to this. We were also shown EY Badges, a learning scheme EY has which has a large number of course and training schemes you can take in every part of the business, whether it is sustainability or data visualisations. Within the badges if you took 15 hours of learning on a specific course you received a learning badges, then extra hours may lead you to a bronze badge etc etc. This encouraged us to further develop our skills in any areas we wished to develop. Sessions were run each week in case we had any issue with the badge system.

I think I was given a good volume of responsibility. I was given an internal project which I was solely responsible for, a solution placemat which I then presented to senior consultants at the end of the internship. This not only gave me responsibility but also allowed me to understand the company solutions more as I was researching and pulling together information about it. I was also given smaller roles of responsibility on client projects where I was asked to produce market research or flowcharts to then be used in client presentations.

At EY we had a buddy and a counsellor as our main support system. Both my buddy and my counsellor were lovely and extremely supportive during my time on the internship. My counsellor and I spoke frequently and she was often in the office ready to give a helping hand. I think the support she gave was phenomenal. I was able to speak to both my buddy and counsellor often and was given advice from both about my future career.

Everyone on the team was will to help with any query you had no matter how senior they were or not. The general consensus was you could put 15 mins to speak to anyone in their diary and they would speak to you and as an intern that was amazing because they could also put you in touch with any other team member if you were interested in another sector. Everyone came into the office on a Thursday (I mean every team member!) and then some team members were in other days of the week. This was probably most important to me as it meant the team was very social, they always did something after work on a Thursday which made for a great atmosphere.

I really enjoyed my internship and thought it was great. I was well supported, the team was very social and there were always opportunities to network with people. The work was meaningful and whilst it was a steep learning curve into the industry, it was a very enjoyable one. Everyone on the team worked hard but also understood that the social side was important too. I developed new skills and came out with an understanding that this was the area I wanted to work in after university.

Yes

The assessment day can often be intimidating but it is almost like a work day. You complete a group assessment where they just want to see how you work with others and an individual assessment to see how you work alone. Network as much as you can while you are working, you might want to speak to other members of other teams, gain as much of an understanding as you can about the company. Make sure you network during your assessment day, you will likely see a few again if you join! I saw many people from my assessment day during my induction and its lovely speaking to people again and makes the start less daunting!