Audit Intern Review

I spent a lot of my time working on excel to prepare workbook for an audit. There was also plenty of opportunities to interact with current trainees as well as other interns. The first week was a training week including a 2 night stay in a London hotel and a 2 night stay in Warwick. Following this, we spent time on a new audit each week to experience the different sectors that the firm has to offer.

Excel skills are incredibly important for in audit. However, going into the internship my excel skills we not very good. However, I learnt a lot of new short cuts and was taught many techniques throughout the internship. Additionally, I have developed communication skills due to listening to explanations of how to complete tasks that I have never done before. Learning how to ask the right question and expressing your questions is certainly a skill I have developed.

For the majority of the internship I was not working on important tasks. Big responsibility is not often given to interns. However, I was invited to a call with a client following my partner shadowing day. Despite this I was not expected to contribute to the call and just sat in and listened. The majority of day to day tasks are filling in spreadsheets and therefore there is little responsibility. The audit sector tends to lend more responsibility only to more senior individuals.

Throughout the internship I was offered plenty of support. Whenever I had a question there was always someone to ask. If the team that I was working on was busy I may have to wait for assistance (understandably) but eventually someone would make time to help me. Everyone was always happy to help and there was never any pressure to not ask a 'silly questions'. I did sometimes struggle with a lack of training and understanding of what I was doing but this was mainly due to how short the internship is.

There is a very welcoming culture at BDO. Everyone is happy to help. The firm feels welcoming to everyone and there does seem to be a massive hierarchy. BDO is also an incredibly social firm and offers a competitive work / life balance. Additionally, the firm hosted many socials during the first week of our internship including paying for 4 nights in hotels. Having spoken to many of the current trainees, they supported this and always said good things about BDO's culture.

Overall I have enjoyed my placement at BDO. There were plenty of opportunities to speak to current trainees and sometimes more senior members of staff which gave me an insight into a career in audit. I particularly enjoyed the partner shadowing day which gave me a higher up view on audit. While at times the work wasn't always engaging, this was often due to my lack of knowledge on how to complete tasks and as such an intern will be given simple tasks.

Yes

I would definitely recommend an internship with BDO. The firm has a great social culture and that filters down to an intern level as well. Very few competitor internships will offer the same opportunities such as a partner shadowing day. There is also an opportunity to secure a graduate training contract at the end of the internship which is a great opportunity to advance your career. The application process may be time consuming but it is definitely worth the effort.