Student Review

I found the insight programme very rewarding. I was unsure what to anticipate before hand, however, I left the process with new, applicable skills. It was nice to meet other students in a similar position and to work as part of a team on the tasks. A key benefit I drew from the process was my improved team working skills and communication skills.

I really believed that in the process we were all made to feel extremely welcomed. When I attended the assessment day, it was all really friendly and this helped me relax. When I attended the actual insight programme, the KPMG staff were very inclusive and extremely helpful. Not only did they try their hardest to help us grasp accountancy/advisory as a profession, but more importantly they enabled us to really get a feel for the KPMG culture.

We were given access to a variety of staff members, from different departments and from different stages in their career. This gave us a true insight to the different stages of the KPMG process and therefore enabled us to access the relevant guidance depending on the route we are planning to go down.

I study Economics and politics at university so the actual Accountancy understanding I gained from the process was probably less applicable to my degree scheme. However, I will say that the other skill sets I obtained throughout this process, including communication skills, enhanced team work skills and learning how to better apply industry knowledge to my work have been extremely prevelant in advancing myself within my degree scheme.

I believe the structure of the insight programme was very smooth. When I attended the initial assessment day the process was very clear and concise. I found this to be particularly beneficial when feeling a little nervous because it was one less thing to worry about. When I attended the actual insight programme everything was organised appropriately. We were regularly informed of plans and therefore knew what was going on and could be prepared for each task. I felt there was a good number of break opportunities between each task to have a moment to absorb what we had just done. We were regularly told the aims and objectives throughout the process and it was great to see each one being completed at the different levels of the programme.

Everybody was very friendly and sincere. I was slightly apprehensive prior to the process that people may not be as friendly and that it would be overly competitive, however throughout everybody acted as prt of a team and that was great.

I came away from the programme having really developed a variety of skill sets in a fun and relaxed environment, and therefore found this a great method of training. Since doing the insight programme we have had the opportunity to take part in a phone interview which has enabled me to progress in future stages with KPMG. It really proved that the hard work we put in to this process was respected by the firm, proven by the way in which they have done their best to help us advance our KPMG careers. Also, the support that the firm offers when training you and helping you with your exams is one of the most supportive schemes going, the access to resources and support at KPMG is world class.

Having spoken to a variety of different employees of the firm we got a significant insight as to what life at the firm is really like. We were shown how this Varied between roles and positions and I also loved that your KPMG career was very dependent on what you seeked. The impression I got from most employees was the the firm supported your individual career goals and helped you to achieve them, whatever they may be.

We had a lot of discussion about the company culture which was really nice to learn. However, actually meeting the different employees of the firm enabled me to best understand the culture and see how it was applied - it was something I really enjoyed.

I have known for quite a while now that accountancy is something I will be doing as a career. However, this scheme was s fantastic way of consolidating my knowledge and helping me clear any questions/queries I had previously been unable to answer.

I was reimbursed a certain proportion of my travel costs from Lancaster to London when attending the assessment day. Fortunately when attending the actual insight programme it was based in my home town of Leeds so I did not incur any excess costs.

We attended a drinks reception one evening and had the opportunity to speak to a variety of KPMG employees.

This was a perfect to ask individual questions that you may not have wanted to ask in front of the whole group and it was also great to see the variety of responses to these questions.

Yes. I was informed of the different opportunities that you could access as an individual through KPMG.

Most definitely. The programme was very concise and lasted the perfect length of time whilst still providing such a vast array of advice and information. It truly was a great insight to the opportunities available at KPMG.