Audit Intern Review

I found the KPMG vacation scheme really well organised; you have two days of training/instruction then from the first day you are sent out onto client work. Everything is planned intricately before you begin so the programme runs really smoothly. I was doing the same work as a graduate employee so got a really good insight into what the full-time job is like, and everyone I worked with was very helpful and friendly. KPMG particularly have a good social side - I was playing sport each week with colleagues for example, and I've continued to play after finishing the placement. The only criticism I'd have is that the internship is only a month long. This means the total pay isn't great, plus you have to work hard to make an impact if you're intending to receive a job offer.

I was treated as a normal employee and didn't at all feel as though I was subordinate. Colleagues are keen get you involved in out of work events. This is also reflected in the work I was doing, as there was no hesitation from in-charges and partners in trusting with me difficult tasks that may involve me working alone with clients.

Managers were really helpeful and actively encouraged me to ask questions if I was struggling. When I was given work to do, everything was explained clearly to me as I generally found that they understood the difficulty of working in audit for the first time.

The workload varied per job, and also on how far through the audit we were. For example, one week I was in a team of three at the very start of the on-site work, so was given full responsibility of certain parts of the audit. For that job I sometimes had to work longer hours. However, on others I finished at normal times and on Fridays you are usually able to finish earlier due to a scheme called Jump Start, which allows you to leave at 3 if you have finished enough work/completed sufficient weekly hours.

Again, this varied depending on the job, but there is usually no hesitation in giving interns full responsibility of graduate-level work. I was also allowed to observe meetings that only managers and partners tend to attend. Occasionally, there was a shortage of work that I was qualified/permitted to do and I had to ask around the office for things to do, but this was rare.

The content of audit work isn't very applicable to my degree of Economics and French, but the interpersonal skills that I needed to use/develop to work with clients and colleagues are useful for getting on with tutors and applying for extra-curricular University roles. The main advantage, however, is that by working with clients and on genuine audit work, I have developed skills and knowledge that will make a graduate role in accountancy much easier, as well as on any other graduate scheme.

The Nottingham office is one of the smaller ones in the UK, and this was actually advantageous because it was much easier to get to know people. Everyone knew each other so the atmosphere is relaxed and friendly. Although the workload for KPMG employees is demanding, there was no unnecessary rivalry or competition, and colleagues are very happy to help each other out. I spent a day in the Restructuring office as part of the programme, and the atmosphere was similarly friendly. Despite the differences in work content and working locations/hours, it was also noticeable that people knew colleagues from different service lines and everyone was involved in out of work activities.

This was one of the most notable positives of the programme. The first two days are very structured training days, then the for the rest of the programme each intern's calendar is planned out, and all travel and accommodation is sorted before they start. I also found that when an issue came up, such as an audit I was due to work on being completed ahead of schedule, arrangements were made really quickly to reorganise my schedule.

As it was only a month long, there weren't many opportunities for KPMG to provide us with training. We had two basic training days that largely involved informing us about the company and the roles we were in. There was also feedback from each job that showed us what we did well and what we could improve on, and an appraisal evaluating all our feedback towards the end.

The internship programme is designed to reward interns who do well and offer them a graduate role, which I managed to get. The graduate role is definitely appealing, as not only will I be able to use my experience from the internship, but KPMG are particularly focussed on their staff and provide the best support to their graduates out of the big four (they have an exam support team and offer the best study leave). In terms of moving up the ladder after the graduate scheme, there are opportunities to stay on as an assistant manager, but equally, leaving to another industry does not harm your chances of returning to a role of higher responsibility in the future - gaining extra experience by working in another service line/office/industry is in fact a requirement for making it to partner level.

The social scene is really good, there are a number of societies and sport teams that organise regular events. Employees from all levels of seniority get involved: as an intern I played football and cricket alongside partners for example.

I was mostly in the East Midlands where I live, so I lived at home. Rent for a month is relatively cheap however, the Lenton area in paricular is aimed for students so is very affordable - roughly £90 per week for most places. Socialising is about average for the country but there is a good social scene in Nottingham so you can always find somewhere pretty cheap.

Nottingham nightlife is really good, loads of bars and clubs in town and in most of the suburbs - West Bridgford for example has about 30 pubs and bars on one road. You can only really go out at the weekend - or risk performing very badly on the internship! - which are locals nights and a bit more expensive, but still very good.

These were mainly sporting events, which are usually every week, but there are societies and clubs you can join. I couldn't sample much of this being there for just a month.