EY Internship Review

Each day consisted of learning new things and advancing my skills. It was quite similar to Dragon's Den. I created and discussed products which were created within groups I was assigned to, as well as presented this in front of many others. I also did some formal writing as a part of a business. This was quite challenging at times as it was my first time in such environments.

New skills I've learnt are working in a formal, professional environment as I haven't done things like this before. I've also enhanced my presentation skills through continuous presentations in front of a large audience - which has also greatly improved my public speaking and ability to articulate my words effectively. Business writing has also improved my formal literacy skills and I've also become more advanced at solving problems. All in all, most of the skills I currently possessed, have been challenged and improved during this work experience.

This programme has been fairly challenging as I am not one who enjoys presenting and speaking in front of large audiences. This has been frightening at times, however, continuous presentations has lead me to overcome such fears, improving the skills I have. The team I was in was really cooperative and professional, I enjoyed that very much. I couldn't really say how well this met my expectations - I was not expecting presentations or group works, I personally thought i'd be doing work experience in offices or something similar, but what actually happened hasn't been too bad. I did do work experience in an office for 1 week but the other week consisted of other activities. Overall, I enjoyed this programme to a greater extent.

I felt very valued. This is because the manager supported me and praised me as well as rewarded me, with hot drinks for example. This made me feel as if the effort I was putting in was worth it because I was getting rewards and praise out of it. The manager was very polite and kind as well which was great, as it made them approachable and easy to ask for help.

The structure of the programme was very well organised. I was given booklet which had all the information I needed, such as what I was going to do everyday, what to prepare for, what I'd learn and who'd be presenting etc. I was also put into different groups every day so that I could interact with others and make new friends, strengthening my interpersonal skills.

I received quite a lot of support from my training provider whom was a female. She would tell me everything I'd need to know such as what to expect during the programmes and even some tips that would later come in handy. She also provided me help, for at times where I'd feel uncomfortable or had any problems. The help and support I received was very good and the attitudes of the people supporting me was amazing.

My employer also provided me with a lot of support. He'd be polite just like everyone else and would provide with general help when needed. He regularly checked up on me and everyone else to ensure that things were going well and that people were on the right track, which I think was very kind and considerate of him.

The salary is very good. In total I was paid around £700 at the end of the 3 weeks, which was much higher than i'd thought i'd get. Travelling to EY cost me around £10 weekly so this was covered in the pay, but I also got much more out of it which was very beneficial for me as the money can be spent on useful things.

There weren't many opportunities outside of work. When I wasn't working, I was doing group presentations and working with new people as a team designing products and presenting them as well as a description. I also learnt how to prepare for an interview and presented these findings with the rest of my team. I learnt how to enhance my leadership skills too.

Yes

This is a very valuable experience as you enhance many skills and gain a few useful ones too. You also gain an understanding of what working in a professional environment feels like. Learning things such as presentations skills and how to do an interview as well as being a good leader would be very useful for later on in life as these things come up quite often in the work world.

During the phone call interview, just make sure you expand on answers and not give any short, bland responses. Try to be confident as there will be a lot of group work and presentation going on. In the end, this programme is for yourself, no one else so you should do your best in it.