Accountancy Intern Review

My mindset was that I wasn't going to enjoy every moment of every day, so please bear that in mind when gauging my review. Lots of the work in an accountancy placement is very mundane. That being said, from the first day of my 8 week internship, I was given my own client, and treated near enough the same as a graduate trainee. I could ask anyone for help at any time, and was given cogent guidance by an Assistant Manager; but essentially, I was given responsibility from the outset, which is something I really valued.

As stated before, I feel I was treated near enough the same as a graduate trainee. An effort was made by all my colleagues to welcome me, and ensure I was comfortable asking them for assistance whenever. In a short space of time I feel I got to a know a number of people pretty well, which I guess reinforces the idea that I was considered in no way separate to the rest of the team.

One particular Assistant Manager was given the responsibility of 'managing' me from the outset; and she was always available to ask for help and taught me a considerable amount very quickly. I had little correspondence with the Associate Director (day-to-day head of the team) which was a shame, but in contrast the Partner in the department made an explicit effort to talk to me one-on-one on multiple occasions and really made me feel part of the group.

I worked for around 7 different clients in 8 weeks. I had plenty of work almost all of the time and worked overtime almost everyday (which you are paid for). The only time I had to look for work was towards the end of the internship when I was waiting on individual bits of information from different clients, and was also (justifiably) expected to be able to solve more of the problems I had by myself. I did find myself in the last couple of weeks becoming stuck at a few checkpoints and having to look around my set jobs to see what work I could do, but it wasn't a major issue.

I fail to see how an intern with no prior experience could be given more responsibility than I was afforded. I wasn't put under severe pressure to do things I wasn't sure about by myself, but I was given the same jobs as anyone else in the office, and if I asked to help out/complete more or different jobs there was no resistance from any of the management. I certainly felt very trusted to deliver on my internship.

I learnt a lot. I would have liked to have gained some audit experience, but unfortunately the particular office I worked in did mainly accounts prep, with audit jobs few and far between (this is not a company wide ratio, just characteristic of the particular office i was situated in - Salisbury). The learning curve is steep in accountancy, with many I spoke to claiming it can take up to 2 years before you really feel like you know whats going on - but I was certainly immersed in my short 8 week stay, and learnt a lot that will help me progress.

Perplexing, is the short answer. I loved the people, genuinely. The majority are around my age as accountancy has a reliance on relatively cheap labour from graduates. There was a lot organised outside of work and we often went out for lunch so getting to know people was really easy and my office was really cool. However, the individualistic nature of the work (1 accountant - 1 job) meant that in office hours it could often be very quiet. There were points, especially nearer the start where I do remember hearing the clock tick as there was exactly no conversation in a 20+ person office. Disconcerting, but not irregular I'm sure. And, again, once I got to know people better, I felt a hell of a lot more comfortable in that atmosphere.

Organisation and accountancy go hand-in-hand. Everything was well setup and everyone was aware what they were tasked with. Thats not to say that flexibility isn't a necessary attribute - work did change and new bits of information could come in at any time so you had to be relatively on your toes to expect your workload to shift one way or the other.

I felt valued, and dare I say wanted. It was made explicitly obvious that I would be very welcome back. To reiterate, I was treated as a Grad. trainee. They invested in me as much as they could have done i the space of time there.

I feel like I was implicitly offered a job in the office I was in and if I was to apply doubt i would even need to go through an interview. Unfortunately Im not sure I can live full time in the area, but will certainly be applying to the company in a different office, and am hopeful of working for them.

Definitely. I didn't utilise it enough as I was a little slow on the uptake and pretty shy. However, most thursday nights people from the office went out in the town; there was loads of after work and lunch drinks; barbecues and organised trips aplenty. Sport was also something that was organised. I myself played 6 a-side football with a few others from the firm and really enjoyed it.

Pretty reasonable, not super-cheap. You'll do fine.

Scarce but fun, you'll enjoy yourself, but your near Stonehenge, not Fabric...

As stated in the "socialising" question, a lot was on offer.