This review was submitted over 4 years ago, so some of the information it contains may no longer be relevant.
Rating
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The Role
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The Company
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The Culture
- 1. To what extent did you enjoy your work placement or internship?
- 2. To what extent did you feel valued by your colleagues?
- 3. To what extent were you given support and guidance by management/your supervisor(s)?
- 4. How busy were you on a daily basis?
- 5. How much responsibility were you given during your placement?
- 6. To what extent did/will the skills you developed, and training you received, assist you in your degree studies and beyond?
- 7. What was the general atmosphere in your office?
- 8. How well organised was the overall work placement or internship set up?
- 9. In terms of personal training and development, to what extent did the company or firm invest in you?
- 10. What were the perks on your work placement?
- 11. How appealing are future employment prospects within the organisation?
- 12. Was there a good social scene amongst any fellow placement students/colleagues?
- 13. What was the cost of living and socialising in the area you worked in?
- 14. What was the Nightlife like in the area you worked?
- 15. Were there many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work?
The Role
Great fun as long as you're expecting to work hard and you enjoy the business environment. Sometimes the hours can be long, so watch out!
Colleagues respect you and give you work in proportion to how hard and how well you work. They appreciate that you are a student and offer help accordingly.
You feel like a good independent member of the team who isn't constantly watched over. If you push yourself to ask questions they will always help and are understanding that you're just an intern.
Largely the right balance of work - can get really busy in January/February (some nights working past midnight) depending on what clients you are on. But that's just the nature of auditing.
Surprised that they treated you just like a graduate. So you've got to ask questions because you don't have the same knowledge as a graduate. If you do ask the questions then you will really enjoy the responsibility and feel confident about it.
Probably not useful for degree studies, but that's not really the point. Will be extremely useful for working in financial services after University and gives you a confidence and you leave feeling much more relaxed about a business environment which you would never be able to get without actually doing an internship.
The Company
You work at client offices with different teams so obviously it will vary. But there was always an enjoyable atmosphere as long as there wasn't ridiculously loads of work to do.
Occasionally there was confusion about the extent to which we had to participate in performance reviews and things and there were conflicting messages coming from various people. At the end of the day it's not a very important factor as there's not much organizing which needs to be done because you're treated like a graduate and are off on different client sites with your team, not being walked around the office like an intern.
Company gives you access to all of their resources such as training courses and provide you with a laptop and account to fully participate in their different systems and use their auditing platforms. You have the opportunity to book courses to learn more about accounting/excel/banking rules and regulation which are available to all full time employees.
Subsidised Canteen
Sports and Social Club
Financial Bonus
Company Parties/Events
Above 25 days holiday
Working from home
Already seen as one of the top graduate employeers. Qualifying as an accountant with one of the big 4 practically guarantees you work for life.
The Culture
Other Gap Year Students organize various nights out so they're there if you want to participate in them. You don't spend much time actually working with other Gap Year Students though. Company Christmas parties and various other end of busy season social events are great and drinks and food are all paid for!
Placement was in London so it is naturally very expensive to rent and stay there. Especially difficult on an intern's salary to be able to rent a place and pay the rest of your living expenses.
Placement was in London so whatever nightlife you want you can find.
Plenty of company sports teams and social events. Graduates do things to together and if you're friends with them will invite you along.
Details
Audit
London
December 2013