Birmingham GCR Tax Intern Review

Assisting more senior members of staff with various tasks. This includes general admin work e.g. making Powerpoint templates, drafting emails and researching various companies. Also took part in various meetings, both internal and involving clients. Received many learning opportunities including business and leadership development, as well as the EY Badges scheme, where I have been working on my excel skills. A really great mixture of learning about what a tax role would entail with exposure to real client projects.

Yes, so many new skills. Particularly, I have learnt so much about different areas of tax and how they all work together. I've enjoyed completing an EY Badge to develop my skills on Excel, and completing CMI qualifications on leadership. A huge thing I've learnt has been general confidence and presenting; we had to deliver a presentation with other tax interns about a hypothetical client. I found this a great way to consider the things we have observed during real client calls and apply them.

Yes. I was able to complete plenty of chargeable work e.g. working on a group payment arrangement. There was absolutely no micromanaging and we were encouraged to manage our own time from day one. I was able to make suggestions on areas where I thought things could be done more efficiently i.e. formatting, templates and things like this. The team listened to these and implemented them. I was also able to make calls with HMRC chasing up issues.

This was hands down the best part of the internship. The GCR team are absolutely fantastic; my buddy [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] and counsellor [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] were so incredibly supportive and welcoming. They have both offered to stay in touch after the internship and continue to support me with any questions I have. There is a general culture in the team of supporting each other. When you ask for help and guidance from anybody, you never feel like you are being a burden. People want you to ask questions and improve.

Just fantastic. There's a real focus on development of the entire team and the culture is collaborative, not competitive. I had a great time at multiple socials, peer group sessions etc. Charity and sustainability are not just corporate buzzwords at EY; I frequently saw different initiatives for a range of causes, often driven by the most senior (and busy!) members of the team. As interns, we took part in a great CSR day planting trees at Horsenden farm. We were also able to raise over £300 for the EY Foundation.

I have absolutely loved it and would accept a return offer in a heartbeat. Having never been in a corporate setting before, I expected something out of The Apprentice, where the atmosphere was extremely cutthroat. I was also expecting to just be photocopying and making the tea. This couldn't be further from the case. During my internship, I've met some of the most brilliant people and have been given so many opportunities. It has been a wonderful experience.

Yes

When applying for different internships, I was rejected by a few, and accepted by others. However, EY was the company which best fit me, and this has made such a difference in terms of feeling relaxed and enjoying the work. You have to be yourself. If a firm hires a false version of you, you aren't going to feel welcome and you aren't going to be able to sustain it. Then, if you get on to an internship, keep being yourself. It's really easy when you're in an office environment to try to blend in to the background, but there will be things that you uniquely bring to the team. There really isn't a single template for an EY employee.