Intern Review

This year, the Summer Internship programme was hosted virtually on EY's own virtual platform over two weeks rather than six weeks in the London office, as was the internship experience previously. The day-to-day role consisted of attended presentations on service line learning, general EY information session as well as soft-skills training. There was also the opportunity for working on a case study within small groups which consisted of independent teams working and meeting with mentors, before a final presentation of our work.

I have definitely learnt many new skills on this programme. Firstly, I have gained so much more confidence, particularly through the case study working sessions, where we were required to digest complex tax measures and then present them to two mentors from EY. While it was certainly a challenge at first, I now feel much more confident in my abilities to process highly technical information and my presenting skills. I have also developed a much more technical appreciation of the practice of Tax and professional services more generally, which has allowed me to consider future career options that I would not have previously considered.

While the virtual nature of the Summer Internship programme meant that we were not tasked with 'actual' work as would have been the case under the usual programme in the office, the case study element ensured we understood the important of accountability in the role in terms of providing deliverables. There was time formally allocated for case study team working, however, a degree of outside work was also necessary to ensure we all felt confident.

If there is one word I could use to describe the EY Summer Internship programme it would be 'supportive'. Everyone from the Student Recruitment team who organised and facilitated the whole programme, to each EY employee from grad scheme employees to partners were so willing to give their insights and guidance for us to succeed in our role. I particularly appreciated the honesty with which they discussed their roles and displayed genuine enthusiasm for us joining the firm.

I had previously heard of EY as the 'people' firm of the Big 4 professional services firms and this was truly reflected in my Summer Internship experience. Right from the beginning, including the initial recruitment phone calls, the team has been nothing but welcoming and have displayed a genuine concern for us to make the most of our internship experience and succeed within the firm. It has been particularly heartening to see the enthusiasm for the work and the wider firm from right across the employee spectrum, from recent graduate scheme joiners to senior managers and partners.

I have thoroughly enjoyed my time on the EY Summer internship programme and have been pleasantly surprised at how much I have warmed to the firm. This programme has been infinitely more valuable to building my confidence, both in terms of soft skills and technical skills, and providing inspiration for my future career path options than I had initially imagined. In particular, I really enjoyed working with the five other Tax interns in my case study group - I actively looked forward to our sessions where we could chat openly while also working collaboratively to achieve collective success in our presentation.

Yes

I managed to secure a place on this Summer Internship Programme via a fast track opportunity having attended the Discover EY Women in Tax Insight Day in my previous year at university. This was a great way to bypass the normally intensive recruitment process of applying to penultimate year summer internships as the application for the Insight Day only required online tests and some short video interview questions - much less than a full internship assessment centre!