I enjoyed being in different environments, i.e. being in the office, at clients etc. The training at the beginning was really useful and the people at the organisation were very friendly and willing to support.
I felt like my colleagues put a lot of responsibility on me and I was never struggling to find something to do. I think that the environment was a little cliquey, however I tried my best to befriend others and create a good network.
I was given lots of work by different managers and I was always supported if i didn't understand something.
I was very busy, however some tasks were more labour some and manual than others so the day was sometime taken up by one task. However, I did have a lot of work so could transition between tasks.
I was given a lot of responsibility and a lot of tasks to carry out independently for various people in the organisation so it was important that the work was done well.
I learnt a lot more about accounting and how to formulate financial reports. I picked up a lot of generic auditing information however I wasn't given any auditing work to do while in the office. I was given samples to test when at clients' which gave me more insight into auditing. I developed organisation, time management, accuracy and confidence as I had to do a presentation at the end of the internship.
The office was very quiet and everyone seemed to be working independently. There was more atmosphere when at a clients', however in genera it was very dull in the office. There was a lot of concentration among colleagues so it needed to be a quiet atmosphere, however I prefer a little more liveliness.
The Early Insights team did a really good job of the training and the presentations at the end of the internship. They did a lot of character development and training on auditing and accounting. I enjoyed the experience and they were always there to contact throughout the internship which was good.
The firm didn't invest in me too much, all the interns had generic training at the beginning and any development i had during the internship I learnt myself as I was given a task and left to it most of the time. I wasn't taught anything explicitly and I wasn't given as much significant work as I would have liked.
It seems that progression is very quick in the firm as straight after the graduate scheme you are promoted to semi-senior auditor. For me, i don't like the auditing structure as much as other industries, so it didn't motivate me enough to want to continue in the auditing industry per se.
There was a very good culture and social scene - lots of social activities were set up while I was there, both inside and outside the office. There was a football tournament and a BBQ at the office. Additionally, the graduates took me out for lunch twice while i was there.
Southampton is a student city so the prices of living are fairly low. I live here anyway as I am a student at the university so it was good for the salary I received. The social scene is also very cheap which is a bonus. Overall, Southampton was a nice city to do the internship at.
Nightlife was very good because it is a student city. There are a lot of pubs, clubs and social scenes in Southampton so it keeps the atmosphere alive and fresh in the town. Ocean Village doesn't have any nightlife (other than bars), however it was very close to the city centre where there is a lot more choice.
There were a lot of opportunities to get involved outside of work as there were national tournaments in sports and also lots of colleague meet-ups. There was a big social scene in the company however I felt that it was difficult to break into social circles already established.
Internship (1-4 Months)
1st November 2019