Summer Vacation Scheme - Advisory - Business Consulting Review

The Summer Vacation Scheme was a very enjoyable experience - I was given meaningful and challenging work, and my colleagues were incredibly helpful and friendly. Overall I received an great insight into the life of a consultant at KPMG.

I was treated like an analyst from day one which made me feel incredibly valued. My capabilities were never doubted, but I never felt unable to ask questions if I needed help or didn't understand something.

Everyone in my team was happy to offer support if it was needed, and my buddy and performance manager both met with me regularly to set objectives, discuss my performance and generally make sure I was alright.

I was very busy - in a good way! It was only on my last day that I had nothing to do - most of the time the work was full on but not unmanageable. I did usually work an hour or two longer each day (typically 8.30-6.30) but there were a couple of late nights too - which gave a pretty realistic insight into the unpredictable nature of projects.

I was given more or less the same work to do as a graduate analyst, and given some areas of the project to take sole responsibility for. I also participated in all meetings with the client.

Not particularly relevant for my degree, but the experience was invaluable for a future career in consulting - particularly the people skills that the internship continued to develop. There weren't many specific training courses that I was able to attend, but those which I did attend weren't hugely helpful.

The atmosphere in the office was great - very positive and lively! Perhaps a little too lively at times - there are a lot of collaborative workspaces, but occasionally it was necessary to find somewhere quieter to be able to get work done without distraction!

Overall, my experience was very good, but that wasn't necessarily the case across the programme. My department was relatively small which meant I was put onto a project almost immediately, and my supervisors provided great guidance. It does seem that people's experiences were quite dependent on the team they ended up in and what work was available for them. There was a centralised programme of objectives to follow, however these were quite vague and I didn't find them particularly helpful.

Due to project demands, I wasn't able to attend many of the programme-specific trainings that were run, but these seemed to be geared towards personal and professional development. My team specifically did make sure I was learning and improving over my time there.

The four weeks at KPMG certainly convinced me that it was a great place to work - the work is interesting and challenging, the people are fantastic and there are some great perks which show that the company really values its employees.

There were some social events organised by the interns (though those in technology consulting seemed to have a lot more organised for them by their colleagues). When travelling with my team, we went for dinner and drinks each evening.

London is obviously very expensive and I was lucky to be able to live at home during my placement. The subsidised canteen, and expenses when travelling abroad, meant that my expenses during the placement were quite low, but this wouldn't have been the case for anyone who had to move to London for the duration of the placement.

London has great nightlife, though the bars in Canary Wharf were all very expensive!

My project was very demanding which meant I didn't have much free time during the week (and also had a pre-existing social life in London!) but there were regular drinks on Friday evening. I think there were more activities and societies which I could have got involved with if I had been there for longer.