Internship Review at BDO

The Role

Role Description

Assisting in the audit of various companies.

Other tasks such as calling and casting accounts or performing research for more senior auditors.

1. To what extent did you enjoy your work placement or internship?

★★★★★★★★★☆

Rated 9/10

Overall the placement was mostly enjoyable. The work itself was not always interesting, although this varied a lot, but the environment at BDO and the structure of the internship was good.

2. To what extent did you feel valued by your colleagues?

★★★★★★★☆☆☆

Rated 7/10

Again, this varied. Most people went out of their way to make you fit in and give you enough exposure to typical work.

3. To what extent were you given support and guidance by management/your supervisor(s)?

★★★★★★★★★☆

Rated 9/10

My guidance counsellor was extremely approachable and encourage me to update him on my progress as much as possible and if there was ever a problem someone would try and fix it.

4. How busy were you on a daily basis?

★★★★★★★★★☆

Rated 9/10

Very rarely was I left with nothing to do and usually there was more work available if I were to finish earlier than expected.

5. How much responsibility were you given during your placement?

★★★★★★★★☆☆

Rated 8/10

As an intern I was generally given the same kind of work as the rest of the graduate junior auditors. The level of responsibility was enough to feel like you were being challenged but not too much that you would ever be accountable if something went wrong.

6. To what extent did/will the skills you developed, and training you received, assist you in your degree studies and beyond?

★★★★★★★★☆☆

Rated 8/10

I gained good exposure to working in financial services during the six weeks and also picked up some general work skills. If I were to pursue a career in audit after graduation then the placement would definitely help towards that.

The Organisation

7. What was the general atmosphere in your office?

★★★★★★★★★☆

Rated 9/10

The office atmosphere was always enjoyable. Everyone was friendly and even the partners got involved in some of the social activities.

8. How well organised was the overall work placement or internship set up?

★★★★★★★★★☆

Rated 9/10

The placement consisted of a week's training in London followed by four and a half week of audit experience in the regional office and a further two days in London at the end. The time in London was organised extremely well and everything was well structured. The actual audit experience was also well organised and I had been assigned jobs before I even arrived.

9. In terms of personal training and development, to what extent did the company or firm invest in you?

★★★★★★★★★☆

Rated 9/10

As mentioned above, the training week in London was a good introduction into the company and the work. In the office the employees were happy to let me get involved with most things and often went out of their way to find things for me to do that they thought might give me a broader experience overall.

10. What were the perks on your work placement?

★★★★★★★★★☆

Rated 9/10

• Subsidised Canteen
• Sports and Social Club

11. How appealing are future employment prospects within the organisation?

★★★★★★★★★☆

Rated 9/10

From my experience there, BDO is definitely a good organisation to work for and there are a number of programmes available for those that want to develop themselves professionally and move about within the organisation. The exposure you get from working with client like BDO's and studying the ACA is likely to make you extremely employable in the future.

Other Information

12. Was there a good social scene amongst any fellow placement students/colleagues?

★★★★★★★★★☆

Rated 9/10

Social events made up a big part of BDO's culture. My office had a number of different sports teams and during the internship we went to Manchester to take part in the firm-wide football tournament. Many of the social activities are subsidised and employees are encouraged to create events or run activities if there's something they feel others might enjoy.

13. What was the cost of living and socialising in the area you worked in?

★★★★★★★★☆☆

Rated 8/10

Fairly normal.

14. What was the Nightlife like in the area you worked?

★★★★★★★★☆☆

Rated 8/10

Again, pretty normal.

15. Were there many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work?

★★★★★★★★★☆

Rated 9/10

See the section on the social scene,

In addition to these questions, is there any extra information you would like to leave about your experiences on your work placement that other students may be interested in?

If you're looking for a good insight into working in audit or tax then I would highly recommend the BDO internship programme. The six weeks were both informative and fun and have put me in a good position for pursuing a career in audit.

Review 94/96 for BDO

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