Summer Intern Review

I really enjoyed my internship. I went in to the 6 weeks with the aim to learn as much as I could, and ultimately see if it was what I wanted to do when I leave university. When I had completed the internship I felt like I had learnt more than I could have imagined; the experience of working at head office and on a client site allowed me to see what working in the department would actually be like, and resulted in me knowing this was what I wanted to do as a career. The interaction I had with my colleagues and fellow interns (through team events, etc.) also made the internship really enjoyable as I felt like the department/project teams/interns were close knit teams.

After every significant piece of work I completed I would request feedback from my colleagues to learn where my strengths and weaknesses lie, so I can work on these in the future. The feedback given was always really positive and my colleagues would always be really appreciative for the work I had completed, leading me to feel valued. Furthermore, when my internship ended all my colleagues were sad to see me leave, and were really keen for me to return as a graduate, again making me feel valued and that I had actually contributed to the department during my time there.

Every intern is given a counsellor, and I had weekly catchup meetings with mine to ensure I was happy with the work I was doing, that I didn't have too much/little work to do, and that I was generally enjoying the internship. Furthermore, counsellors (or anyone you would be doing a piece of work for) would be happy to answer questions whenever they arose.

How busy I was varied on a day to day basis, depending on whether I was starting new pieces of work or bringing pieces of work to an end. However, if I ever found I had a lot of downtime colleagues were happy to provide me with more work. Furthermore, if I was working at full capacity colleagues would understand if I was unable to take on extra pieces of work.

From day 1 of the internship I was given real pieces of work to contribute towards, this showed me that they trusted me and wanted to see me develop my skills. During my internship I was placed on client site and so by the end of my 6 weeks I was completing deliverables for clients independently, giving me a real sense of responsibility that allowed me to develop my research, communication and presentation skills.

The skills I developed during my internship linked to what I had been learning on my degree course (Business and Management Studies), so being able to apply what I had learnt into real work examples was a fantastic opportunity. The six week internship equipped me with a lot of skills that relate to Human Resources, and as this subject makes up many of my final year modules I'm looking forward to using my knowledge to assist my third year studies.

An open, positive environment is encouraged in EY and I felt this was the case during my internship. The office is very open plan, and a hot desk policy operates. I believe this creates a very open and friendly atmosphere, whilst ensuring the work is completed to a high standard. I believe the open office plan allows the department to be very open with each other, as you can see if your colleagues are available to talk to/or to help. This therefore creates a friendly atmosphere in the office (across departments also) as open communication is encouraged, which in turn enables better team work.

The internship programme was set up incredibly well. The summer internship team organised a two day induction which provided us with an insight into EY and their strategy. The team also organised social events, a CSR Day and a final event, which allowed the interns to engage and get to know each other. Within my department, whilst the internship was organised well (in terms of putting me on a project, getting work and organising training sessions) it took about a week to settle in and have my colleagues understand what needed to be done.

During my internship, the department I was working in organised training sessions with different colleagues so I was able to learn about the different aspects of the department. I was also invited to the department's Strategy Day which gave me further opportunity to learn about the department and their plans for future, and how I could be a part of it.

My internship showed me that I definitely wanted a career in HR Advisory; the work was interesting and engaging, the team was great and the training opportunities are fantastic. Luckily a week and half after my internship I received a graduate offer!

Initially some social events were organised for the interns, however even when events aren't organised large groups of interns either go for lunch together every day or organise after work drinks with each other. I thought this was great because hopefully large numbers of us will be graduates together next year, and so it will mean coming in to EY permanently we'll already have good network connections. Within my department team drinks, lunches and Strategy Days are organised which were great for getting to know the team. Furthermore, when I was working on client site the project team would frequently go out for dinner and organise social events in the evening, which I felt was important when working away from London for long periods of time.

I did not live in London during my internship, I commuted - which was approximately £70/week. Socialising in London I found expensive, however I expected this and I found if I (and other interns) wanted to spend less money we were able to find cheaper options.

My office was in London Bridge, therefore there are great connections for getting into central London where the variety of different bars and clubs is huge, and there is definitely something for everyone. However, the majority of the bars and clubs are expensive.

As I was located on client site for the majority of my internship I was not able to get involved with any activities outside of work. However, EY has an extremely large number of different networks employees are able to join (e.g. netball, football, yoga, drama, women), and when I return as a graduate I will be taking advantage of al of these opportunities.