Summer Intern Review

Every morning I would message all of the members of my team to request for work. We also had a daily catch-up call to discuss the progress made on each client and what work needs to be done. It gave me a chance to talk and listen to colleagues with varying levels of skills (from senior manager to graduates). Through these calls, I'd be given work which I would complete within the day. If I have spare capacity, I'd message every member of the team to request for more work.

New technical skills that I came across working in assurance includes tying out the financial statements for two or three clients, collating review points to be shared with the client, testing samples for pension benefits paid and admin expenses, journal entry testing, and completing disclosure checklists. Personally, I also feel like certain interpersonal skills had developed a lot including my communication skills in both written and verbal forms, time-management skills when it came to completing work, networking ability, teamwork ability, and in certain instances, my leadership skills as well.

I was given a balanced amount of work where on certain days or weeks, I would have a lot of work handed to me and other times it would be minimal. I definitely felt as though the work I was given had significant responsibility attached. All of the work I was able to complete by the end of the day and was able to discuss it with the relevant member. I aimed to complete my work with agility without losing any quality and was glad to hear from the reviewers that my work was done at high standards.

I had incredible support from my team members, counsellor and buddy over the duration of the internship. They all made it easy for me to ask for help due to how approachable they all are. I had lunch with a few of the members and had a more general conversation about work and found they were open to answering all of my questions. Everyone that I worked for gave me constructive criticism and praise over the work I had completed for them. It's an environment that will definitely aid in the growth of an individual.

There is generally a large number of younger members in the graduate to senior associate levels with a wide range of diverse members too. Finding some sort of relatable connection with most people made it easier to communicate. I found it easy to approach all kinds of people and able to gain insight into how things worked across different parts of the business as a result of it. It's nice to see when people are working, they don't completely ignore the social elements around them.

I really enjoyed my internship at EY. The enjoy the flexibility of the hybrid working environment. The work given made me feel like I had something important to contribute and felt happy and relieved where my work was received well by the other team members. The social element of the business such as the summer party for 25CP was also a pleasant surprise. It was nice to get away from the work aspect and enjoy the company of the members in a more personal setting.

Yes

When applying to EY I would advise others to be serious but to a certain extent. Just because EY are a top four firm does not mean they are going to eat your head. The culture and approachableness of the team members makes it a place that will nurture your growth. Utilise all of the resources around you, ask as many questions as need, learn from mistakes, work quickly but without losing quality of work, and ensure to network as much as possible to improve interpersonal skills.