Audit - Assurance Review

My role during my summer internship consisted of getting assigned to an engagement, for who I would report to someone who would give me individual tasks which contributed to the overall audit of the engagement/company. Completing these tasks required evidence and documents which can be found on EY Canvas, some of which were requested from the client. I would also attend a team catch-up or a client call if there was one that day.

Communication within a team is a big skill that I have worked on during my time with EY, everyone is very welcoming and helpful so I quickly was able to engage in many discussions with those I was working with. My ability to navigate Canvas and Excel also significantly improved as these were tools/platforms I constantly was using. In terms of training courses, I completed 4 external certificate learnings which were on the topic of management which I then had to self-reflect on for each certificate. I also completed a 21 day crash course in 'Emotional Intelligence'.

At the beginning, I had very little knowledge in how to handle the tasks I was being given. Since then, I slowly needed less and less help when completing tasks so had a lot more responsibility. Because of this I was also able to take on much bigger and important tasks, therefore making me responsible for more of the audit than previously, making me feel like my contribution made more of a difference for that engagement teams workload.

In this internship we were assigned a Buddy, a graduate you could go to for anything you needed. This was a big part of my internship since all the buddies were helpful, whether they were my specific one or not, I felt like we were all in constant contact and I could ask anything when I needed guidance or support. A big shout out to the buddies [This section of the comment has been removed by a member of the RateMyPlacement Team because it did not meet our site terms and conditions] from the EY Newcastle office who were the best people I could ask for to be there for me and the interns during our time at EY, making us feel apart of the office so quickly. Also when on engagements, I felt I always had someone to talk to and never felt silly when double checking something with them. Big shoutout to [This section of the comment has been removed by a member of the RateMyPlacement Team because it did not meet our site terms and conditions], who were all so friendly and engrossing when I was on their engagements. Everyone who I met during my time at the Newcastle office always wanted to help or make our time as positive as possible.

Everyone was much more friendly and social than I expected, there were a few social events which took place in the first few weeks. One of these was an international lunch where we learnt about different cultures, this was very interesting as there were facts about these cultures which I hadn't heard of. These events were always fun since everyone always had a smile on their face, always happy to chat and engage with any activity going on. With all the buddies, we went out for food a few times to spend more time together and have some fun outside the office which we all very much enjoyed. Whilst spending our time there, we started a fundraiser for the EY Foundation for which we raised over £500 and we walked a marathon in support of our fundraiser. This was a great opportunity to highlight the importance of the foundations initiative, and the Newcastle offices supportive culture.

I feel like I could not have enjoyed anymore, the social and work aspect exceeded my expectations. I become very close with the other interns quickly, so the atmosphere each day was fun and exciting, since we were all new and in it together. I was pleasantly surprised with how often there were chances to be in meetings and discuss the work me and my team on the engagement were doing, this helped with understanding what I was doing was for, also giving time to discuss any issues or organize the work which needs to be done.

Yes

I would advise that you should treat your time there like you always should present how much this time means to you, because you are there a limited time you need to make it more obvious how engaged and grateful you are for everything that this internship programme is investing into your experience. I always made sure I was being my best self for everyone supporting me during my internship, this definitely made it a very positive experience for everyone.