Audit Associate - Summer Vacation Scheme Review

I thoroughly enjoyed the placement and felt it was an extremely valuable experience that should hopefully help me to get my foot in the door of one of the big 4. The work was fairly varied, although it might not be for everyone as it is quite analytic and that appeals more to me than perhaps it would to others. There's plenty of opportunity to get out of the office and onto client sites and the Student Recruitment Team place a lot of emphasis on getting to know your colleagues and taking part in events outside of work which is fun.

Responsibility is given from the offset which does make you feel valued. A lot of emphasis is placed on receiving feedback so that you can develop and learn from your mistakes, although this also provides an opportunity to receive praise when you've done a good job. I was concerned that I'd feel in the way throughout my placement, but this certainly hasn't been the case.

The support structure here is very good and I know that there are plenty of people of all levels that I could ask for help if necessary. The first two days were all about settling into the company which was helpful as there's a potential that you could be on a client site every day after that where there are less people to answer your questions. I receive regularly emails about social events and celebrations so there's lots of opportunities to gain guidance in a less formal setting too.

Some days were naturally busier than others but there's plenty of mandatory training to keep you occupied on the less busy days. When you're on the client sites, there's definitely always work to be doing which is much more enjoyable than just sitting in the office. On the placement, you were mainly just working 9-5 although it seems the usual hours would be longer.

The first day that I was assigned to my client, I received a list of tasks that would primarily be my responsibility, which makes you feel a valued part of the team. You're given the opportunity to just get your head down and get on with the work which is helpful, although there's people to ask for help if need be.

I study Accounting so there aren't a great deal of links to take back into my final year, although I feel like this placement has affirmed the fact that I want to work in this industry and has provided invaluable industry knowledge and contacts to me.

People were very friendly but really just wanted to get on with their work which was understandable so it wasn't too exciting but provided a very good working environment. On the client sites, we worked in smaller teams so got much closer and the atmosphere was much nicer to be a part of. All of the client staff were friendly too and were happy to have a chat.

The correspondence before the internship was superb and I felt like I had constant support throughout the placement. This continued throughout the placement and my diary was clear and showed me exactly where I would be in the region each day. There was lots of celebration events organised too us too and this was communicated weeks in advance.

I feel like KPMG have an emphasis on trying to improve us as well as just getting us to work for them. I've learnt so much on the placement and the company seem keen that this placement is a potential route to a graduate job which provides real incentive. No real expense has been spared and we've been treated exactly the same as other new starters which has been lovely.

The graduate scheme is exactly what I want to do and shows real clear progression routes throughout the company. Future career options have been made clear to us and we've been able to get a balanced view of the graduate scheme from our colleagues which has been invaluable. I've appreciated the honesty and, if anything, it has made me more keen to join the company upon graduation.

We all went for drinks after the first day and have stayed in regular contact with those in our department since. There was a celebration boat part planned and opportunites to get involved in the local community through Corporate Responsibility Events.

Personally, I did not face any costs of living as I live in London and had to commute using TfL. In terms of socialising cost, London is expected to be expensive. However, there are places around the office where you could socialise on a budget.

Working in London allows easy access to the exciting nightlife in Central London. I am not able to comment on the nightlife around Canary Wharf, in particular because I was always able to leave the office by 5:30pm (6pm latest).

As mentioned above, there have been a number of social drinks and events organised by KPMG and colleagues in respective teams. Apart from the social aspect, KPMG organised a CSR event where the interns (from all departments) helped a charity improve their brand image and increase their social presence.