Summer Intern - Assurance Review

I had a great experience at EY. Everyone working there made sure I felt welcome straight away, and were always willing to help me out. The work I was given was at an appropriate level, and I never felt overwhelmed by my tasks. I would definitely recommend this programme to a friend.

Everyone I met was incredibly friendly and encouraged me to get involved will all the work social events. My team were always on hand to help me when I was struggling to understand something or having difficulties finding what I needed. They even bought me cake to celebrate my last day!

I had two managers during my time at EY, and both were very supportive. During my first week when I was still learning, they walked me through the processes I needed to completed each piece of work when I asked. Throughout the rest of my time here, they made sure to check in on me every so often to see how I was doing, and were always available to help whenever I asked.

Whilst in the first week of my internship I was kept busy, the amount of work they had planned for me and thought I could complete was underestimated. I found that during my second and third weeks on the client I had very little work to do. This was particularly notable during my third week, where upon asking each member of the team if I could help them with anything and them having nothing to give me, I found myself sat around attempting to look busy on my computer.

I was given a fair amount of responsibility. I was allowed to reach out to clients and interact with them on a daily basis without supervision, which was a great experience as it really allowed me to develop my professional communication skills. When given a new piece of work I was mostly left to my own devices, however could always ask for help when needed.

Whilst the skills I have learnt aren't relevant to my degree, seeing as I don't study accounting, they will certainly be useful for the future. I hope to pursue a career in finance, and the experiences I had at EY have provided me with an excellent foundation upon which to build this career.

An office is an office. I have found that the atmosphere greatly depends on who's around and who's away. For the most part, my colleagues were fun people, and we got along very well. There were times when I was alone with one or two people who weren't particularly sociable, however they were always pleasant and friendly.

The overall internship was excellently planned. From the induction events in London, to the system of each intern being assigned counsellors and buddies. However, as mentioned previously I was not allocated enough work, and therefore this prevents me from giving the organization 10 stars.

EY requires all of its employees to complete web-based learning tasks upon joining the firm, and these were very beneficial to my professional training. The counsellor that I was assigned was excellent, checking in with me every few days, and meeting once a week to discuss my goals and how I was getting on.

I would definitely work at EY as part of the grad scheme were I given the job! Overall my time here has been very worthwhile, and I would recommend applying to anyone who is considering it. I think that the limitations of the internship, such as the lack of things to do, are not the case for full-time employees.

As I was in a regional office, the social scene was definitely lacking. There are very few grad students and interns, and therefore opportunities to go out and socialize were limited. In comparison to a central London office with many more interns, socializing was just not even on the radar.

I lived with my parents during this internship, and therefore the cost of living was zero. However, when required to travel to visit clients or attend induction events in London, EY made sure to fully reimburse me of all my costs, therefore this internship cost me literally nothing. The cost of socializing was definitely less than it would be in London.

The nightlife is decent, but as mentioned previously, I did not go out with other EY employees during my time here, just friends from home. There are several clubs, and a lot of pubs and bars, which meant there is always somewhere to go, although it can get very busy on a Friday/Saturday night.

Again, the regional office was fairly quiet, and I did not hear of any activities mentioned. In London offices I know there are plenty of activities, such as sports teams, charity work etc., but I did not hear mention of this in my office. This may have been due to the relatively short time I spent here, however.