Assurance Intern Review

Start of the day:
- Go through emails
- Some teams would start off their day with a catch-up call to discuss what they completed the prior day and what they aimed to do today
Work during the day:
As an intern I would typically work with staff members who were 1st-year to Senior level, and help them out with their tasks. This included things like
- Reconciliations
- Verifications
- Testing
- Reviews
- Board Minutes
- Walkthroughs
- Memos
relating to accounts like equity, cash, payroll, expenses etc.
The staff I worked with would typically walk me through the task i.e. why and how we do it and provide an example before setting me the work, and would also be available via teams if I had any questions
Other tasks:
As part of the internship, we had the opportunity to work towards a certification in management with the CMI and this meant throughout the week we had to do related studying to complete a learning and reflection sheet
You also had the opportunity to complete EY badges which are online-based learnings like the courses on Udemy and Coursera. This meant if work was a bit slow for the day you still had something to do, and upon completion you could earn a certificate
Other events:
At least once a week there was an event like an office social, a 'lunch and learn' or partner meeting

Given the nature of my work allotment in that I was on multiple projects for a week each, rather than committing to one project for a long time, there was naturally a limit to how involved I could become in a project. I can understand why it would be difficult for staff to delegate me high-responsibility tasks if they knew I may not be on the team long enough to a) justify them spending the time to teach me how to do it rather than doing it themselves or b) complete the task.
Having said that, I think I was given as much responsibility as could be justified in these circumstances as staff did not coddle me during tasks - it was up to me whether I spend my own time on the task, take full responsibility and do it myself, or if I wanted more support. There's also the safeguard that I think team managers review all the work that is submitted whether by an intern or not so it felt as though I was being treated similarly to everyone else

I had never done any of the tasks mentioned above so they were all new skills.
In terms of soft skills, I was able to enhance things like teamwork, communication, multitasking, organiastion etc by practicing them in a workplace environment which will obviously be beneficial for graduate jobs.
The EY badges also gave me the opportunity to gain new skills e.g. I did a 10 hour course on R programming so that is a new skillset I have earnt off of this opportunity

There are multiple avenues of support.
Buddy:
Prior to joining you are assigned a Buddy - this gives you someone to ask questions to before even starting so is helpful for dispelling any nerves you may have prior to joining. I asked my buddy general questions about day-to-day tasks, office dress code etc. so I could be prepared for my first day. After starting I would say my buddy was my main point of contact for further 'general' questions as they were the person I knew for the longest period (start to end) and I became comfortable speaking to them - they could help with things about completing timesheets, recording expenses, or even finding more work if you had not been assigned much
Counsellor:
You are also assigned a counsellor who I thought of as a more senior buddy - like if you were having larger issues with getting work you could bring this up with your counsellor who could try to change you to another project. I didn't have to do this but I know another intern got help in this way. I didn't need much from my counselor but it was nice to know there was another space to get help. You have your end of internship feedback review meeting with your counselor and I believe they decide whether you get a graduate offer so that would probably make you a bit nervous around them but mine was so nice I didn't really stress about it
Wider team:
The people I worked with were really supportive with explaining work and if I ever had further questions I felt comfortable asking for further guidance

Everyone I met was really friendly. I had never worked in an office before so I was a bit stressed thinking about how to achieve the formalities I expected of a corporate environment but all of those worries were dispelled on my first day when I met my buddy, other interns' buddies and general staff. There is a dress for your day policy at this office so most people were dressed down which I think made it feel more casual and comfortable to speak to each other
There's really not much sense of hierarchy I think because so many people join at different points in their life e.g. straight out of school, after uni or a mid-career change, you don't really assume any one is junior or senior and just speak to each other comfortably
There were multiple opportunities to meet people - an intern social, an office social, and office BBQ, a UKI audit department social, a CSR day etc. I do know this is more than usual as it was Summer and they didn't have socials during the pandemic but it gives a good indication that they do offer social events when they can
The company seems passionate about social and environmental issues: there were charity bake sales, the aforementioned corporate social responsibility day, opportunities to volunteer for the smart futures programme which helps college students get work experience etc.

I enjoyed my work experience
I couldn't have asked for more friendly and supportive teams to work with
It was hybrid working - I typically worked from home as many people on the teams I worked with did so I wouldn't have seen them in the office anyway, plus it was more convenient in terms of travel and expenses. There were times I was in office but they were still enjoyable as it is nice to work around other people rather than alone in your room sometimes
I think there are pros and cons to the fact I was on so many projects. A pro is that I got to work with a lot of different people and multiple industries. A con is that I wasn't able to get as deeply involved in a project, and didn't have as many opportunities to meet clients. There was one engagement that I was scheduled to be on for 3 weeks, then a week in I was told this may not be a good engagement for an intern to be on - while I do appreciate the concern, I also wonder why this was not considered before I was assigned to the project and spent a week on it
I will say I didn't always have work to do on projects - again because only certain tasks can be delegated to interns there were sometimes gaps in between receiving work. This did mean I wasn't overworked at any point, and I did have EY badges I could do in my spare time but there were sometimes noticeable periods in a day where I was just doing EY badges
I expected to work more with other interns but there were only like 7 in my location and only 2 were in the same department as me so I wasn't surprised that I didn't see them as much. Of course there were socials so I did still get the opportunity to get to know them
I would go back

Yes