Summer Intern Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my 12-week internship with Mazars in the Durham office. The programme was very structured and the work provided me with a lot of insight into audit. Everyone was helpful and friendly at the office, which was a major contribution to my overall positive experience working at Mazars.

Since I worked in a small team with other intern, a manager and a director, I felt extremely valued by my colleagues. The team was very friendly and often organised events outside of work so that we could get to know each other better. I felt that my opinions were valued during team meetings and I still keep in touch with colleagues after the internship.

I was provided with training before starting work as well as materials to guide me through the programme. My manager frequently provided me with informal feedback throughout the internship and supported me immediately when I had any questions about the work. There were also a few formal feedback sessions, which were useful in terms of discussing my strengths and areas of improvement.

On a daily basis, I was quite busy with the tasks given to me. However, I did have some free time occasionally to read extra material and to learn more about Mazars by talking to colleagues in the office. Although I never had nothing to do during the day at work, I did not have to work overtime and feel that it was a good balance.

I was given responsibility to independently complete the tasks given to me, however they were all reviewed by my manager. I was also given extra responsibilities by my manager and director that were outside of the programme. Overall I feel that I was given a good level of responsibility and independence.

Since I want to take the ACA and become a chartered accountant, I think that my internship at Mazars has been extremely useful and has provided me insight into audit and accountancy. I feel that I have also developed teamwork and communication skills. I will be able to apply the knowledge and skills gained to degree studies, particularly in team projects.

The atmosphere in the office was mostly welcoming. We had an office outing after work at the beginning of the internship, which was incredibly fun and I got to meet most of the staff at the office. Also, on a regular basis, colleagues would bake cakes and share them around the office!

A schedule was provided to us at the beginning on the internship, however the starting dates for some activities were not very accurate. However, this was so that we could adapt to our work progress and members of the team not being in the office. Overall, the internship was well organised and was fully informed of the team's progress.

I am applying to a graduate position at Mazars but at a different office. Since the application process for the internship was slightly different to that of the graduate positions, I was informed that I have to go through stages that I did not complete for the internship. Therefore, I have been invited to an assessment day which is the last stage of the selection process.

There were quite a few interns doing the same internship as I was. We all got along well and had lunch together everyday at work. Some of us interns lived together during the internship, therefore we spent quite a lot of time socialising outside of work. The team also occasionally had some evening meals together throughout the internship.

Cost of living and socialising was not too expensive. Since I am a student at Durham University, I was already used to the cost of living and socialising in the area. Socialising in the area is not bad as there are a lot of restaurants and cafes in the city to choose from, however the area is not as busy compared to term-time.

There were not too many opportunities to get involved in outside of work since the office and Durham City itself is quite small, but the interns often got together on weekends to visit Newcastle, take walks around Durham, or bake! Mazars also gave us the opportunity to watch a cricket match in Chester-le-Street!