Audit Intern Review

I found the internship insightful and engaging as for the six weeks I was only in the office for approximately too, working in various locations such as on sight with a client in Ilkley as well as Birmingham with a final presentation being given in the company’s main office in London

For the vast majority of my placement I was being given actual, real-life tasks working on audits for large corporations alongside other trainees, seniors and managers. I was working alongside BDO’s other offices all around the country and even the world such as the USA and office based in Mauritius

My managers and seniors were incredibly helpful as they knew that this environment was new to me and that I had no previous experience coming from a law degree, so they would be on-hand almost all of the time if I was unsure of how to go about a certain task.

Due to the nature of the audit work on hand and the sheer workload available to me, I found that there were almost no occasions where I would have little or nothing to do, and knowing that there was always a slight backlog of tasks that had to be completed helped me stay motivated and focussed throughout each day

I was given much more responsibly than I was expecting and therefore my seniors and managers all gave me incredibly positive feedback on how I dealt with being ‘thrown in at the deep end’ considering my lack of previous experience and given the fresh and somewhat daunting environment that I was put into.

The tasks that I was given have developed my skills on critical thinking and how to approach a given task, particularly at the stage of planning a new assignment or project. Having been offered a graduate position with BDO, I know that the skills and experience I gained during the six weeks will be invaluable for when I return to the firm upon completing my studies.

I found that the office at which I was based (Norwich) as well as when I was on site working with clients was very focused on the task at hand while also being relaxed and welcoming, particularly since the office I worked in was quite small with a relatively low number of people working day to day.

The internship was very well organised. I was given a welcoming pack upon starting and had an induction week in the Birmingham office with all of the other interns for this year, as well as being assigned a counselling manager and buddy who were my first point of contact for any concerns I had during the internship.

I was honoured with how much time and commitment the firm put into me as they valued me highly enough to take me on-site with a real client during my first two weeks of the internship, showing that they trusted me with their actual day to day workload and thus allowed me to genuinely contribute to the task at hand.

The firm offer graduate positions to around 80% of the interns, and knowing this beforehand motivated me to keep my work to a high standard knowing that if I did my best and maintained the high standard of work expected of the firm then they would be willing to take me on further which they have done

Throughout my time at the firm I was invited to all of the social events put on, the highlight of which was the firm’s national football tournament contested by all of the offices in the UK, which consisted of a weekend in London made up of various social events as well as the tournament itself.

The cost of living and socialising in Norwich was very reasonable for a student like me and considering the salary that I was being given while working with the firm, allowing me to participate in all of the events put on by the firm and it’s employees, all of which I was invited to.

Growing up in/around Norwich I was well aware of the quality of night life in the city and can honestly say that Norwich is always a great night out with various different options depending on what one is looking for, with copious amounts of student nights involving cheap entry as well as drinks.

As stated previously there were many opportunities given to me to get involved with social events such as the football tournament as well as nights out with the other interns particularly during my induction week in Birmingham, such as nights out and social events like go karting and pub quizzes.