First Year Insight Programme Review

Throughout the two days of the First Year Insight Programme in the Glasgow office, my communications with KPMG employees were laidback and relaxed. Additionally, all the other interns I encountered were very down to earth and the group work (teams of 5/6) was supportive.

All questions I asked to employees were answered very well and if an employee was unsure, they went out of their way to find the answer. I was able to connect with several employees on LinkedIn after the insight. I felt well taken care of in terms of knowing what was going on, where facilities were (e.g. toilet), temperature of the room etc.

Any questions about the tasks themselves were answered promptly. The environment of small group discussions in between whole group talks made it easy to ask questions. I felt at ease during the whole programme. There was always an employee supervising the small group discussions and this employee rotated during the talks so it was possible to ask specific people a question,

As a result of the programme, I reinforced my desire to enter the consulting profession, but was still uncertain over which specific line i.e. technology or strategy. Some of the presentations, such as those on working in teams, client negotiations and application tips were useful. Some of the information about KPMG is available online and I already knew, but having it summarised and presented to you nicely makes it much easier to disgest. Furthermore, many in the group did not have prior knowledge of the professional services industry, so I expect they found it very useful.

On the first day, I was introduced to the company and listened to individual presentations on each major service line by employees in those lines. We were split into groups of 5 for small tasks during these presentations. There was an informal networking session in the evening where all manner of questions were asked and the session ended only when all the interns had ran out of questions or left for trains. On the second and final day, we worked in the same groups to analyse a case study and complete a presentation for the whole group and some employees acting as mock clients. There was ample time for lunch and the time allocated for each activity during the day was accurate.

Some of the talks on service lines were dull. However, this can be put down to my personal lack of interest for those lines, such as audit. In that particular talk, there were few questions asked and not much interaction. That said, the atmosphere as a whole was very supportive and positive. The mood was relatively informal and laidback but not so much so that no work was done: a good balance.

They worked to get specialists from each area in to present their service line to us.

It is hard to get this sort of insight from a two-day programme so it didn't really help me experience it. Of course, at the networking session I was able to ask questions regarding work-life balance etc, but I did not experience it first hand.

In my personal opinion, it is hard to judge the company culture within two days, especially since I was in a controlled environment and could not see employees working. That said, interactions between employees were positive and appeared supportive.

Reinforced my prior goal of entering consulting. Obviously, with two days, it is hard to put in much more than they did.

I was reimbursed within a month and with no hassle.

There was a networking session at the end of the first day. I met <20 employees from all areas of the firm over the programme.

The mood during the session was informal and fun and I learned about the stories of some of the graduates who worked in advisory.

This was answered during the networking session with the opinions of several employees. This was a specific question I asked them.

Without a doubt.