Why did you choose to do an internship?

When searching for internships, Smith & Williamson’s appealed to me as it gave me the impression it would allow me to immerse myself in a business, providing important assistance to a variety of clients.

The internship ran for six weeks and this proved to be a perfect amount of time to achieve the goals I had laid out when I was looking for internships.

What were your main duties?

There was a good range of experiences, including visits out of the office to clients. Throughout the internship the work varied from day to day, whilst I was often booked onto a different job each week, no two days were the same; some were much busier than others though!

The work ranged from checking accounts in the office to performing a variety of audit tests when out on site at a client. This gave me a great opportunity to experience what being a trainee auditor on an external audit might be like and it was an experience I thoroughly enjoyed.

Each of the clients I visited were businesses in completely different sectors and this provided a lot of variation in the work I performed, as well as giving me a good insight into how the way in which businesses are run can differ massively.

Throughout the internship I noticed a gradual increase in the level of responsibility I was handed with the work I was being asked to perform.
The working environment was brilliant throughout the internship, both in the office and on site. The atmosphere is great with everybody at the company being totally approachable and friendly right from the start.

The atmosphere seemed like one I would enjoy being a part of straightaway when we were taken on an intern induction event to go bowling. A small number of trainees from across the company came with us and this gave us a great initial opportunity to have a chat with them and understand what we might be getting up to and what we could possibly expect from the internship. I found that this event and the induction as a whole was a great opportunity for us to ease ourselves into the internship without any worries.

Do you have any advice for someone seeking an internship?

On the whole the internship was a thoroughly enjoyable experience which allowed me a wonderful insight into accountancy by offering a range of experiences throughout the six weeks and it is an experience I would strongly recommend to anyone considering gaining an insight into accountancy.