Tax Intern Review

I was given a huge variety ofexposure to different areas of the business and the people I was working with were a great group of people who were both knowledgeable about their area and interesting characters.

The vast majority of the time I felt valued, surprisingly much to be honest. I was given work that was actually useful and added value to KPMG showing a trust in me and the quality of work I could produce.

As above, the level of support went above and beyond what I had anticipated in most cases. My supervisors in the different teams showed an active interest in me and actively took steps to find work for me to do.

In the length of the 6 week program there were only really two days where I was not fully engaged with work to be doing or other forms of learning such as conference calls or meetings.

Along the lines of feeling valued by my colleagues, this was best shown through the responsibility I was given. I was given roles which involved them taking my ideas on board or carrying out a task which was not being duplicated by someone else, thus meaning it was important that I did things well. This was a level of responsibility and pressure which I really wanted to get.

The training was excellent, including a week at the dedicated Tax & Business School in London, alongside the 'on-the-job' learning. Aside from technical skills there were a real plethora of soft skills which will hopefully be invaluable in my working career; from ringing clients and coming across in the right manner to working effectively as a team and fitting into the wider firm environment.

The people were very personable and there was a good atmosphere across the board in all the departments and teams that I worked. I definitely got the sense that they were a community and got on as an office on a greater level than just professionally.

Most of the time the internship was very slick with people knowing who I was meant to be working with and had work planned for me to do. Where specific one-off events were taking place, such as the Transfer Pricing quarterly update, my program was organised so that I was in that team to coincide with it.

The investment by KPMG in me was excellent. The initial week included an induction at the Crowne Plaza Hotel before the week in the Tax Business School. During this time we were put up in the Hilton hotel near-by and had our expenses covered. Once out in my Manchester office I was the only tax intern so all the resources were focused towards me and this was crucial I think in terms of the amount of work I was given. My supervisors and the wide range of people I encountered all gave up large amounts of time to get me involved and to explain things.

If I was offered a job by them I would take it - not need to elaborate further really!

During the time at TBS the other tax interns were a sociable bunch of people who I got on well with. Once in the office however, being the only tax intern, I didn't really have much contact with any other interns. The non-tax interns in the office were on different floors and on different schedules so aside from one evening we organised I did not come across them. I get the impression things would be different on the grad scheme and when joining the office as a full-time employee however.

I can't judge this as I lived at home and commuted too and from the office each day. The train was relatively expensive.

As mentioned above I was not staying in the area nor did interns in the office met up so I can't judge. As with the social scene question, I expect it would be good when you were involved in it as Manchester is a vibrant city.

When in TBS I saw advertisements for a range of events such as the JP Morgan Corporate Challenge (a run in Battersea Park) amongst others. In Manchester there are plenty of notices about events such as music concerts whilst there was a 'Row100' challenge held a couple of weeks ago.