Audit Intern Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my 6-week internship at Grant Thornton, Norwich. I found that my colleagues were very responsive to my questions and took plenty of time to explain any queries I may have had. The additional activities involved such as the Bradenham course and the National Conference were great supplements to the work involved across the whole internship.

From day one I was thrown in to jobs on audits and given responsibility to work on various elements. During this process my colleagues were patient with me and helped to develop my knowledge. Whenever I completed a task to a high standard I was praised and thanked for my work and cooperation.

My people manager was always available and keen to go over any issues I may have had that related to the internship as a process. Occasionally I had concerns over my goals and again my people manager was able to help iron these out which restored my confidence. While on audits the in-charge and other staff were very supportive in helping me to reach my potential.

The majority of the time I was well occupied with plenty of work, towards the beginning of my internship I often found it difficult to get stuck in owing to my lack of audit experience, but this soon ceased to be a major issue. At times I was a little bored, as sometime the available tasks were considered by the in-charge or others to be irrelevant to an intern. This was not common though, and I often found myself occupied without being overburdened.

The level of responsibility given to me seemed to increase througout the internship. To begin with my colleagues respected that I needed to get used to the role and so my tasks were largely 'training tasks' so to speak. However, towards the end of the internship I was regularly contributing on workpapers that held weight within the audit.

The presentation skills and experience I received throughout the internship will be very useful during the final year of my degree as a few modules I will be studying involve presentations. The continuous skills I have learned in excel may assist me in my studies, particularly in economics when studying any kind of financial data.

The atmosphere in the office was very laidback and conversational. Additionally, the opportunity to chose your own office attire was a plus as it contributed towards the relaxed atmosphere in the workplace. This relaxed atmosphere extended to work conducted on client sites as the staff numbers were usually low. However, all staff were more formal and maintained a professional attitude when around clients.

The organisation was occasionally poor towards the beginning of the internship as I was often found on short jobs with little opportunity to get fully stuck in. However, this period did not last long and I soon found that the organisation of the program significantly improved as the internship progressed.

As an intern I was regularly encouraged to attend both in-office training events and complete online training courses. These events and courses were highly beneficial in helping me to develop my professional skills. Throughout the internship I was pleased with the investment in me by the firm that was consistent across all 6-weeks.

Future employment prospects with Grant Thornton are very appealing. The potential offer of a graduate postition at the end of my degree is a sign that the firm invests a great deal of time and effort into developing new talent. My experience throughout my internship with certainly influence my decision to rejoin Grant Thornton next year.

The opportunity to meet fellow interns and placement students across the country at both the London National Conference and the Bradenham training course was a very welcome one. In terms of my immediate office, I rarely spent time with my fellow interns outside of our working hours, but this was more due to logistical reasons.

Costs of living in Norwich was minimal however the travel costs via train from my home to the city were often extortionate despite such a short journey. In terms of sustenence, food prices are not overly high, but I would not recommend purchasing lunch/dinner every single day. Lunch varies from £3-6 depending on choice. Grant Thornton Norwich were excellent in providing snacks on site for a minimum 50p charity donation which served as great supplement to a packed lunch.

I did not experience the nighlife in Norwich as I live elsewhere and travelled home after the end of work every day. However, having grown up in the area I have experience of te local nightlife and I found it to be varied with plenty of options for a wide range of individuals and groups.

Suggestions for out of work activities were often emailed to us or sent via word of mouth. There were many opportunities for such activities although unfortunately some were logistically unreasonable for me. However, if this were not the case I would certainly rate the out of work opportunities for socialising highly.