Audit Intern Review

The internship overall has been a fantastic experience. Given more responsibility than I imagined I would as well as excellent industry insight. A varied and interesting 6 weeks, well spent.

On the whole, I would say 99.9% of people I came across were both welcoming and extremely helpful. I wasn't intimidated by anyone, nor was I worried about asking questions. I was treated like a colleague and all my contributions were appreciated.

Any queries or issues I had during my internship were dealt with virtually immediately. And if they weren't resolved straight away, I would get updated on the progress of my query and what was being done to chase it up. My questions were always answered and I was never at a loss as to what I should do or needed to do in any situation. The guidance was spot on.

I would say there was perhaps one day where I had little to do. However, on that day it gave me chance to complete this review! So swings and roundabouts. Although, I must stress that the reason I had little to do in terms of structured audit work was because the client had missed a deadline of when they were due to return some information to us in the office, and incidentally this was what I should have been working on. So through no fault of Grant Thornton's organisation!

I was given more responsibility than I ever imagined I would be. When out of the office working at the client's premises, I was given my own area to work on which was solely my responsibility. This meant I had a lot of client interaction and had to use my initiative to solve issues relating to client information provision, as well as finding a suitable format for it all. My documents would be included in the final audit so it was important that all the information was correct and uniformly presented. While at Grant Thornton I also worked as part of the social media team and contributed to the intern takeover across all social media platforms. This essentially meant a team of 5 of us were in charge of everything that was posted across all the networks in order to advertise the firm to potential trainees, so this was another tick in the responsibility 'box' as we were trusted to run these forums.

I feel that this internship has given me an ability to organise myself and my time to a much greater standard, as well as giving me an excellent insight into the world of full time work. It can be a daunting prospect waiting to start a full time job if you haven't experienced it before, so this 6 week time slot has been a brilliant taster for what is to come after my final year at university! Not only this but all interns also attend a presentation skills workshop at the company's training facility, 'Bradenham'. This is a country manor which is AMAZING. Here I gained so much confidence in my presenting ability and learned techniques to shape my presentations in a manner that would be engaging to listeners without losing the essential informative nature. This I will take with me for the rest of my working life, without doubt. I've also definitely learned how to integrate myself into an existing peer group. It can be pretty scary going to meet loads of new people at once and trying to get to know everyone, but being dropped in at Grant Thornton has definitely made me feel more confident and able to do this in the future.

Naturally, an office is a working environment, so there has to be a certain degree of order to proceedings! However, I have been pleasantly surprised at the willingness of my colleagues to join in with things like cake bakes and dress down days which always improve the atmosphere of the office! Moreover, in this summer heat, the company often provided ice creams for staff members! An ice cream break is always a welcome break! The firm as a whole also encourage regular breaks, should the staff member need it. This is supported by the provision of a 'Break-out' area, which is a quiet and comfortable room where people can sit and relax should they need some time to themselves. So there's always an attempt to keep morale high!

From the very beginning with our introductory day in Manchester, to our second day in the office full of the essential formalities and introductions and following through the entire internship, the set up was well structured and sensibly formatted. I was able to slowly gain techniques I needed in order to take part in the audit process before then being sent out in to the field on a large client to put these skills into practice. I never felt in over my head, I always had all the information I needed or at the very least someone to ask who could help me. The Bradenham trip fitted in perfectly with the rest of the internship, falling at just the right time to be early enough that I could shape my presentation around the skills I learned, but also late enough that I had an appropriate level of knowledge to not feel out of my depth. It was very clear what jobs I was working on every day as my bookings were available for me to view on the internal system and these were approved weeks in advance.

As an intern, it's difficult to assess how much you think a company should be investing in you when you consider that they are on the cusp of employing the new intake of graduates as well. However, I feel that we were invested in with both time and money to the same degree as any of the full time staff members. We were sent for two days to the company's training facility in order for us to prepare for our presentations, as well as given a laptop to work with during our stay with the firm so we essentially worked as a fully functioning member of the Grant Thornton team for 6 weeks. I feel I was given all the opportunities that any staff member would, as well as the skills to be able to gain a graduate role within the firm due to the time invested in me. If they hadn't given me the opportunities they had in this 6 weeks, I don't think I would have been in the same position, feeling comfortable and confident before my final interview with the possibility of gaining a graduate role within the business.

I cannot say whether I managed to gain a graduate role within the company as I am yet to complete my stay within the firm, I have another week left. Although, all the signs seems positive. You regularly receive feedback in order for you to assess your performance and where you need to improve, and on all of these occasions it's been very positive. I have a final presentation to do to some managers and directors which will determine if I get the graduate role.

There was always so much going on within the firm! Whether this was sports teams (for all abilities!!), FIFA tournaments, quiz nights (with pizza), meetings on a Friday at the local pub or for meals, it's all going on! There is plenty on offer for any willing participant and any genre of activity!

Sheffield is a relatively cheap area to live, I know as I'm a student here. However, for this internship I lived at home so the cost was even less for me! In terms of socialising, there are many cheap places to eat and drink which are frequented by staff members on nights out. There are also more expensive places - it's the same as any other city. So you can always find something to suit your personal budget.

I'm fully aware that Sheffield has pretty much everything on offer to cater for any sort of taste in music, dining or drinking. The city centre is packed with clubs/bars and places to eat, while areas just out of the centre such as Eccleshall road offer a selection of cocktail bars and independent eateries which is nice to explore. Again, it's easy to find activities to suit any budget.

There were a shed load of opportunities for me to get involved in extracurricular activities! I personally found that I was invited to play regularly for the netball team every Wednesday night, as well as a weekend away in Reading for a football tournament! There was then also plenty of nights which were organised by the social committee. This could be anything from a quick hour after work for pizza and a quiz to meeting up on a Friday night for something more formal like drinks and tapas. There were even FIFA nights! Something to cater for all, most definitely.