Vacation Student - Public Sector Audit Review

Overall, I greatly enjoyed being part of the Vacation scheme. The work I was given was challenging to the right level and I was always encouraged by managers and graduate trainee colleagues to seek out information from clients myself if I could, but were always available to offer the right level of support if required. KPMG made an effort to ensure that I was given varied work suited to my capabilities, meaning that my tasks were interesting and not too difficult or routine. Alongside this, the social side of working was also emphasised throughout the scheme. On the day to day, this involved chatting to colleagues on each of their experiences with KPMG, as well as my own, and as this was on a informal basis these conversations were both enjoyable and insightful. Furthermore, KPMG hosted a CSR event for vacation students allowing us to share experiences midway through the scheme.

I largely worked alongside graduate trainees on the day to day basis, and all of these were friendly and open to conversation, as well as being happy to help with any requests for assistance or feedback. Additionally, each Vacation student was assigned a 'Buddy' who was always available to chat informally or explain any elements of work or the scheme itself as required. As I was moved around through different projects on a weekly basis, being assigned a 'Buddy' in this manner ensured that I would always have a reliable contact socially or professionally. Furthermore, KPMG assigns each student a 'Performance Manager' who gives an introductory conversation during the first week to provide individual direction on what each student would like to achieve through their placement, as well as a final review to assess how a student has found the scheme themselves and to review their performance. Being assigned both a 'Buddy' and 'Performance Manager' made sure that all of my queries would be answered, and both of these people always made an effort to show that I was a valued member of the company.

The guidance and support I received was largely resultant of my own requests and seeking of support and feedback. That is, Vacation students are given no immediate training into Accountancy processes but instead are expected to actively seek any help they need themselves; primarily this was through a 'Buddy' allotted to each student; these are first year graduate trainees who are available to receive questions and offer guidance. Having no prior experience or knowledge on Accounting, I feel this method worked well for me, as receiving practical and specified support has given more useful and applicable skills than formal training would have.

Studying Economics, I feel that the practical Accounting skills learned through the placement will be of little use upon returning to degree studies. However, the communication and organisational skills learned on the placement will be of use to my remaining study and any employment or further education taken from then on. I feel the strength of the communication skills learned through the placement were largely resultant of the approach that KPMG has taken in encouraging Vacation students to actively pursue feedback, rather than automatically being given it.

The scheme was structured (in my chosen department) as having one day of introduction to the firm and the Vacation scheme, and from then on directly being involved in working alongside existing teams of graduate trainees and managers, with a final review being discussed at the end of the scheme. Work was split as being involved with one project for each week of the four, with information on each new project being given a day or two before joining its team. Furthermore, the work set out to me was clearly shown via work plans with estimated completion times - this was a great help by emphasising the relative importance of each task assigned. This, however, may vary on a manager-to-manager basis. One issue was the lack of contact with the 'Buddy' past the first week - for the majority of the scheme I was working on different projects than my buddy. Nevertheless, the other graduate trainees I worked with were always ready to help.

From the first day of introductions and in any contact with more senior managers and employees, KPMG always emphasised that they were happy to help and always open to receive questions. Coming from a non-Accountancy background and being given real project work very early into the scheme, this attitude was very helpful to me in its idea and was always lived up to by the employees I worked with, helping me feel less 'out of my depth'. Furthermore, the employees I worked with were always friendly in a genuine way and were interested in my experiences as a student and intern. Alongside this, despite everyone on the teams I work with having large amounts of work to complete, colleagues always took this in their stride and never took this out on anyone around them.

KPMG's approach was primarily for the Vacation students to seek out the information they needed themselves, and this was always readily provided. I was given one day of formal introduction and training, with the rest of the scheme being led by practical involvement in work. This allowed for the development opportunities needed to be tailored to each student, but could also leave one feeling out of their depth if they did not actively request help.

Getting practical experience into auditing work is probably the best way to find out the practicalities of the day to day work involved in a graduate scheme, this especially being so in comparison to online research and even networking with existing graduates. This practical experience helped greatly in deciding whether this was a career line I would like to follow after graduation. On the other hand, I was aware that I was a Vacation student and my experience may not be a fully 'realistic' experience of what it is like to be a graduate employee. This is because the Vacation scheme is also a way for the firm to advertise itself to prospective employees, meaning the experience given may be more 'polished' than long term employment.

Similarly to the answer above, experiencing the company culture first hand gives a much more realistic impression of the actual workings of the firm compared to what is advertised. With that said, it is also probable that the experience given to Vacation students is tailored to emphasise the values that KPMG advertises itself as having, to a degree more than that which may be experienced in day to day working outside of the vacation scheme. Nevertheless, practical experience gives a much greater insight than pure outside advertisement.

Working on real projects alongside graduate trainees gave a great insight on how employment at a Big 4 company is likely to be like, this being ascertained from the work itself but also from day to day conversation with how current employees find their graduate schemes. However, the Vacation scheme is limited to one department for its whole duration - while this does give a greater insight into the chosen department, it gives a limited scope to consider wider career path - I have just as little knowledge into other areas of Accountancy now as I did prior to starting the scheme.

We were paid a competitive salary for an internship, and high in comparison to a 'summer job' for university students. Being part of the audit team, I was required to travel to client sites for the working day often, incurring travel and lunch costs. These are all reimbursed at their value, with a generous allowance being given for out of office food expenses, which was more than enough to buy varied lunches each day. However, the allowance given in the office is smaller, and cannot buy the same amount as compared to out of office allowance, meaning that in office days would require spending our own money on food.

Every effort was made by KPMG to encourage us to speak to employees of all levels and departments whenever we felt we needed to, both in social and professional capacities. By far the best time to do this was during the working day while working alongside employees; some of my most important insights into the company culture, graduate schemes and day to day working life came from these conversations. Additionally, on the first day, we were invited to network with current graduate employees, with a social event being offered later in the scheme to interns.

There were two primary social/networking days - the introductory day, and the Corporate Social Responsibility day which involved a social event after the working day allowing me to chat with other interns. As well as this, we were encouraged to take part in wider office and company social events, though most of these that were offered actually fell outside of the duration of the scheme.

As mentioned, we were invited, like all employees, to offered social events around each of our offices but these often fell outside of the dates of the scheme. Alongside this, we were told about the allowance of days that KPMG offers each year for employees to engage in CSR and volunteering work instead of client work. However, as mentioned, there was only one real opportunity to engage in this during the scheme.

Overall, I would highly recommend this Vacation scheme to any students already interested in a career in Accounting and Professional Services, but also to students who have less of an idea of career direction. As well as paying as well as any other summer work, the scheme also provides valuable working experience and development opportunities in the area of professionalism that can be applied to any future employment. Furthermore, the scheme can assist in finding whether a career in this direction is desirable for a student and will also greatly help in pursuing future employment.