Intern Review

I was an Intern at EY for 4 weeks as part of my Scholarship Programme and carried out many tasks whilst I was there. I worked with two teams on two very different clients so my daily tasks varied between the two. The end of year reporting was being carried out on the first client so I was auditing their trade payable accounts amongst other tasks. Whilst doing this I was interacting with both the client and my team. During my time on my second client I was working on the quarterly review and my tasks involved stock count overviews and checking other internal management processes.

During the 4 weeks my Excel skills developed considerably as a result of using Excel on a day-to-day basis for most of the tasks I was carrying out. Furthermore, my team working and communication skills with clients and colleagues developed, especially as most of my work was independent and it was imperative that I felt confident to ask my colleagues for help as and when I needed it.

I thoroughly enjoyed my internship at EY and felt very welcome within the company. When I started I was given a buddy who was a 2nd year graduate who gave me an insight into the company and helped me with small tasks such as filling out my first time sheet and travel expenses. Both teams that I worked with were very welcoming and understanding, and offered their help and expertise to me when required. I was extremely surprised with how much independence I was given during my time at EY as well as the work that was given to me because I wasn't expecting to be given such important tasks.

I felt very valued by both teams and was always thanked for my time spent on each of my day to day tasks. I was always involved in team tasks and briefed each morning on what I needed to do. For each client, both myself and the manager of the team had to fill out a review form which I was allowed to see at the end of the internship and both my managers and other members of the team commented on my work and appreciated my time with them.

The programme was organised very well with two induction days being carried out, one in the Canary Wharf office in London and the second in my regional office. I was given a lot of support from the manager who looked after me during my internship and my buddy and was regularly emailed/skyped by both members of EY to find out how I was doing and if there was anything they could help with etc.

As this was only a 4 week internship, I did not have any outside training. However, during my placement year with EY I will be attending college for some weeks in order to train my in more specific areas.

Everyone I worked with was very supportive during my internship and people were more than willing to offer me help and advise for job related tasks and admin based tasks. EY does have a support page on their internal website which can be used for any questions that you have relating to any jobs you are given which is very useful.

My salary for the month covered my travel costs very well and also covered more general day to day costs like lunch etc. I was living at home for the duration of my internship so I didn't have any living costs, however the salary I was on would have covered any living costs such as rent very easily.

There are many opportunities that EY offer outside of work such as social clubs, e.g. sports clubs, that run in the evenings and on the weekends. As I was only there for 4 weeks I did not partake in any of these additional activities. Within the regional office, a welcome evening was held for the new graduates and interns which we were encouraged to attend.

Yes

I was very well looked after by EY and despite only having just completed my first year at University I was made to feel like part of the team. People were very willing to offer help and were also encouraging and friendly.

During the application process stay calm and don't rush questions, spend time thinking about them and try to come to the right answer rather than rush through all the questions and get some wrong. The assessment day can be a very daunting experience but just act yourself and do not be put off by the people assessing you.