Summer Intern (Assurance) Review

My degree background was urelated to accounting / finance so had to learn quite a lot in a relatively short period of time. However the intensive training week at the beginning really helped with this.

Colleagues, from peers to up managers and egagement leaders always appreaciated my work, were happy to offer guidance, and made sure I had enough work to do. Colleagues were friendly, approachable and welcoming

I felt I could approach anyone in the office for support. I was assigned a Buddy to provide informal advice, as well as a People Manager with whom I could discuss feedback on the tasks to which I had been assigned. Also engagement team members (i.e. those I worked with on client projects) were always happy to offer advice and guidance.

Was busy all day on most days, and most of the time I had been booked to a specific client (one booking lasted two weeks). The summer internship takes place over 'quiet season', so there were some days when I was not booked to clients and had to ask around for work I could get involved with in the office.

Being in Assurance, managers gave me the responsiblity of completing particular audit tests, and communicating directly with the client to resolve issues we found. Taking responsibility for this meant I could get really involved in the work and understand the wider implications of what I was doing.

This internship has provided a valuable opportunity to start building my career pathway once I graduate from university. I am keen on studying for the ACA qualification after university.

I was in the Milton Keynes office, which was relatively small (120 people). This meant the office had a friendly atmosphere where everyone basically kew each other regardless of which department they were in, and helped me to get to know people in the office well. Attending the annual Assurance Away Day was great fun, and helped me get to know people from the office.

The internship was well organised overall. The first week was taken up by training at Slaverton Park and the local office. The following 5 weeks were taken up by work. There were some weeks when I was not booked to anything and had to find work in the office, but colleagues were always happy for me to help them out with work, or shadow them, whcih was great. There were a few IT system issues at the beginning, including during the training week, but these were sorted out soon.

Training and coaching was excellent. Training involved spending 3 full days at Slaverton Park, wherre we were organised into tutor goups for intensive technical training during the day, and attended networking dinners during the evenings. Throughout the course of the internship members of engagement teams coached me very well.

Opportunities to shadow in another line of service, in another UK office and further down the line undertake overseas secondments

The training week was a good social expereince as we met other interns from all over the country. The evening netowrking dinners provided a good opportunity to get to know them. Also there were a few internship day events during the internship. My office only had a few interns, so I would have enjoyed a couple of regional social events for interns (perhaps in the evenings) to get to know interns within my region better

I commuted from north London everyday so didn't have a living expense.

MK has some good bars which we went to for people's leaving drinks

Local office Annual Away Day to Go Ape, Regional Internship Development Day, UK-wide Internship Dragons Den event