Audit Summer Intern Review

I really enjoyed my placement and feel that I was welcomed and supported throughout. I feel that effort was made to ensure that I experienced as many different aspects of the job as possible even though my internship was during a quiet period and i feel that i got a good impression of what it would be like to work in the office.

I did feel valued by my colleagues and the work that i was given was always necessary and played a role in the audit procedure. There were times when there was no work available for me to do but everytime i did work with/for someone they were appreciative and thankful.

I was given a lot of support throughout my internship. It was emphasised from the beginning that questions were always welcome and that no question was a stupid question. Everyone was very approachable and willing to help and i did not feel at any time that there was a lack of support. At the beginning we were assigned a buddy for our internship and this was good as it made sure that there was always someone to ask if you were unsure about anything.

The first week i was not very busy at all and did a lot of online training and a few bits and bobs when they were available. For the final three weeks i was booked to work on different clients and so this was much busier. When i finished work i fed back to my manager/in charge and was usually given something else to do fairly quickly. The times that were not busy or that there was no immediate work available training was always available to keep me busy.

I feel that i was given quite a lot of responsibility and felt that my work was important. It was good that i was given important work to do but it also put me at ease that the manager would talk me through the work before starting and that i could ask questions throughout before showing the final product. This meant that having responsibility wasn't stressful.

I don't feel that the training/experience will help me in my degree as such, but it does mean that i have a much better idea of what i want to do when i graduate.

The general atmosphere in the office was very good. It was quite relaxed and informal which i liked and i was able to talk and ask questions without feeling like i was interrupting others. The seating arrangement was in circles of 4 which meant that you had a lot of interaction with others at the table and i felt that this allowed me to ask plenty of questions and get to know others in the office. There was no distinction between managers and other employees and i really liked this as it made for an unintimidating and all around pleasant atmosphere.

Overall the placement was organised well although there were a couple of issues. There was a problem with communication before the internship started. One email that the interns were sent had a small attachment that detailed that we had to go to Edinburgh for an induction day on our first day. Almost none of the interns on my induction had seen this attachment and had only found out a few days prior thanks to a phone call. Also the first week of my internship i was not booked to work on any client which meant that i had a lot of spare time and had to try and pick up small jobs from different people if they were available. My manager did apologise for this as it was a quiet period in the office.

There was a lot of online training to be done over the internship.There was also the induction day on our first day which included training on KPMG's values, independence and ethics.

Future employment with this company is very appealing. There are a lot of benefits to working there and i found it to be a very welcoming and social office.

There was a good social scene between the interns and i think that this has enhanced my experience overall. We socialised outside of work quite a lot and went for drinks a few times and played mini golf. The interns also got invited to plans that some of the grads had informally organised and this was really nice as we got to bond with others in the office as well as each other.

The living costs in Aberdeen are fairly high but i didn't find the cost of socialising to be very high.

The nightlife in Aberdeen was good and there were plenty of places to go in the evening. We had department drinks in a couple of pubs on the same street as the office which was very convenient and there are lots of other bars and clubs a short walk from the office and in the town centre.

There were lots of opportunities to get involved in activities after work. A couple of the interns played football and squash with others from the office and there were social activities organised almost every week such as climbing Bennachie, mini-golf and drinks on various nights. I also attended a social committee meeting which gave me insight into the various different social activities that are planned for the rest of the year.