Summer Intern in Private Client Tax Services Review

I really enjoyed my 6 week internship at S & W. The induction was well organised and interesting and a great way to meet the interns I would be working with and also those in other offices I otherwise would not have met. The staff in my office were really friendly and I felt I could ask lots of questions without being a burden to them. My role was really interesting and I was thrown in the deep end within 5 minutes of arriving on my first day.

My colleagues were all very friendly and easy to get along with. They always had work they could give me and made it clear that I was being a big help by taking on responsibilities they didn't have time for.

The two day induction at the beginning of the internship covered most of the questions I had before starting work. I also had a mid internship catch up with the Grad recruiter to go over any issues I had and see how I was settling in. All the managers were really approachable and offered lots of guidance and advice and kept checking up on me to make sure I had enough work to do and was enjoying my time.

From the very first day I was given my own work to get on with. There was always more work to be done so I was constantly occupied without feeling too stressed.

Within 5 mins of arriving I was learning how to create a tax return, after doing maybe 2 under supervision I was then trusted to do them on my own.

The work was really relevant to my degree and definitely helped develop the core material I had learnt at University. Working in an office and picking up the soft skills associated with the office will be in valuable for applying back to grad jobs and performing well in interviews.

The atmosphere in the office was really laid back. Everyone was very friendly and got on well with each other. There were 3 other interns in my office and many more Grads so we would often go for drinks after work and lunches. The office would have dress down Fridays which made the office feel a bit more relaxed.

The internship was really well organised; from the two day induction at the beginning, right the way through. I always knew who to contact for assistance when needed. The application process was also a lot quicker and more informative than others I had applied to. I was on a Placement year at the time of applying and they were very accommodating in working around my Placement in terms of interview times and my start date.

6 weeks probably isn't enough time to make the most of opportunities in personal development but I know they invest a lot of time and materials in getting the grads through professional qualifications such as ACA and CTA by giving paid study leave, paying for exams and sending them to college to revise.

I know many interns get offered a grad role at the end of the internship - hopefully I will be one of them! A couple of grads I met had been Summer Interns previously. All the grads I spoke to had good experiences on the grad scheme so if offered a role I would definitely take it.

There were enough interns and grads in the office for it to be easy to organise drinks after work or go out for lunch. There was also a BBQ at one of the Partners house so that gave me an opportunity to socialise with more senior colleagues outside of work.

I found drinks prices pretty average for a small city. There were fancier pubs and restaurants but also places like Spoons or Slug and Lettuce where you can get 2 for 1 cocktails most nights. I didn't rent so I don't know what house prices are like but there are plenty of buses into the city and a train station very close to the centre. I used the park and ride which was £12 a week.

It's not London. But there are a few good pubs with beer gardens and bars that serve cocktails. There are also 1 or 2 clubs. Drinks are pretty average in price for outside of London and there’s good public transport links for getting back home. For bigger nights out Southampton isn’t too far away.

Come Friday afternoon and there's always someone organising drinks. The boys would often organise football games at the weekend as well. From speaking with Grads I know they have regular work events like a Christmas party. However as an intern only here for 6 weeks it wasn't really possible for me to get involved in things like that.