Associate Review

The internship was thoroughly enjoyable and the team was extremely welcoming.

There was an open and social culture within the team and I was often invited to social events and ate lunch with colleagues. Certain colleagues trusted me with high responsibility workloads which entailed contacting clients directly and undertaking important research, data analysis and writing reports. This made me feel valued and respected as a valuable team member.

Every intern is assigned a people manager, who will greet you on your first day, and you will have weekly feedback meetings to track your progress. You are also assigned a buddy to assist you in training and getting to know the firm's processes, systems and technical knowledge. Everyone in the team was helpful and happy to spend time explaining tasks and answering any questions. Some colleagues and managers took additional time to sit and give individual feedback on pieces of work, which was helpful and encouraging.

From day one, I was given a lot of responsibility and a large work load. I sent an initial email to circulate to the team asking for any spare work or to shadow meetings and calls. At some times I was almost too busy, missing lunch or staying an hour overtime, but it was never unmanagable and this would be something that would need to be carefully balanced as a graduate. As an intern, I found it important to agree to get involved in as many opportunities as possible so that I gained the best experience, and it didn't matter if I stayed late because the internship only lasted six weeks. As a graduate, it is essential to prioritise and manage your work load - I had to attempt to do this whilst working on around 15 different clients, and attending as many interesting client meetings/calls over different teams to get an insight into the firm and the type of work that people undertake.

I was given responsibility in meetings to take minutes, write emails to and call clients and custodians, analyse data, write reports, write project summaries and shadowing partners in their client meetings.

The internship has helped me gain confidence in presenting, improved my writing style, increased my understanding of accounting and tax terms.

The atmosphere was really welcoming, friendly and generally laid back.

Well organised.

We had a three day induction in London, all hotel expenses and drinks and food paid for, with organised socials to meet interns and partners at the firm.

Centre of Birmingham prices are slightly expensive and I commuted by train each day and that was also expensive.

Birmingham has a vibrant and varied nightlife.

There were some eating/drinking activities and a football tournament. It may have been better if there were more varied social events organised.