Audit Associate Review

Really enjoyed to experience a range of sub-sectors within Tax whilst on my internship. I was able to rotate around the different sub sectors within tax. I also really enjoyed meeting the teams and the other interns and got involved with different social activities including Go Ape with my team and a Boat Party with the other interns.

Very friendly team, everyone is very welcoming and supportive. Obviously there was a limited amount of work that I could do but when I did do work they were very grateful and very good at giving feedback. They were all very friendly and interested in what I was doing at University and what I was doing at KPMG.

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 gained a lot of skills about what its like working in the work place and the kind of work I will be doing at the beginning of my career. As I study Economics at University, a lot of what I was doing applied to what I had learnt at university. This was really useful and I definitely will be able to apply it when I return to university for my third year.

Everyone was very friendly and welcoming. There is a very inclusive culture at KPMG. It was a very calm environment to be in where everyone seemed to be happy and enjoying the work that they were doing. Being in this kind of atmosphere meant that I was happy to ask questions when I was stuck and therefore it was a good environment to learn in.

The recruitment process was very well organised and they were always very quick to get back to me after each stage. They were also really quick to respond to any queries I had with regards to the placement. On my first day which was the induction day this was very well organised and provided me with lots of useful knowledge. The 2 days I spend at the tax business school was also very well structured. When I arrived for my first day at the office however, neither my buddy nor my people manager were there and I found that at the beginning it was quite disorganised.

I spent 2 days at the tax business school in my first week. This was really useful and we got taught all day on tax and basic tax and accounting skills. When I was in the office I didn't get given many challenging tasks to do but obviously this is understandable as I limited knowledge to be able to do the tasks. I was given lots of information to read through which was very interesting and I got a lot from.

I think they would be a fantastic firm to work for as they are very supportive towards personal development. They would be a fantastic firm to study your professional qualification with as they provide excellent training and support. Since they are such a big company you also get huge clients to work with which gives you lots of opportunities to challenge yourself and be the best you can be.

There were lots of social events organised within teams and events organised by recruitment team for the interns. I went on a Go Ape day with a team that I was with which gave me a fantastic opportunity to meet the whole team. On my first day after the induction event we had a networking evening which was a fantastic opportunity to meet the other interns. Recruitment also organised a boat party during the internship so we could meet up with all of the other interns and find out how everyone else was getting along.

I was based in the Birmingham office which is also were I go to university so I was able to stay at my uni house during the internship. This meant that living costs were very low. I had to get a 10 minute train in to work every day which was very cheap and easy. It is definitely much cheaper and easier that being in London.

The nightlife 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.