My summer as an Audit intern: Part 2
From newly learned software to nail-biting bingo games
Starting a new job is always mildly scary. A new workplace, new co-workers, and new tasks - everything is unfamiliar and you can never really accurately anticipate or visualise what you are going to be doing in the first day, week or even month. This fear of the unknown is doubled when you’re unexpectantly thrown into completing an internship online because of a global pandemic! I don’t think anyone could have anticipated this when we were doing our interviews at the beginning of the year.
On my first day, I was quite nervous opening up my Deloitte laptop because I didn’t know what to expect - I was about to experience an entirely new environment whilst sitting at the desk in my bedroom. However, I was immediately greeted with reassuring smiles from the HR and Audit Support teams who eased us gently but swiftly into the standards that were expected of us at Deloitte. The onboarding training in the first week was quickly over and I was introduced to the lovely staff of the Deloitte Galway office with whom I was to be working for the next 7 weeks.
During these two months, I was introduced to a multitude of procedures, checklists and the initially daunting (but actually very user-friendly once you get the hang of it) EMS - the Deloitte auditing software tool. I got to interact with a variety of clients from an assortment of industries, and every day was a new opportunity to build on my newly-obtained skills from the previous day and weeks.
Not only was there client-based work, but we were also tasked with completing an intern project, wherein we had to simulate a pitch to a client. This year also marked the inaugural intern Hackathon, where we spent a day trying to convince a fictional company that measuring their environmental impact and increasing their social responsibility was imperative to their business. Both of these events had awoken my very competitive nature and my group and I spent many hours ensuring we could deliver the best presentations possible.
In saying this, it wasn’t all work and no play. The Deloitte Galway office hosted a particularly nail-biting evening of bingo which became incredibly competitive as everybody desperately tried to get one, two or three rows. Sadly, I was unsuccessful, not even managing to get one measly row at any point in the game.
Deloitte also introduced the online ‘Time to Talk’ volunteering scheme this summer, where each volunteer was partnered with someone learning English as a foreign language. An hour a week, I would natter away with a very nice woman from Brazil, where we would exchange stories from our pasts, talk about our shared interests, travelling… you name it, we talked about it over our five weeks together!
Regular meetings with my assigned ‘buddy’, Sarah, also helped ensure I was comfortable with my work and understood what was being asked of me. Any time I had a question or needed help with anything, Sarah or any of the other Galway staff were just an Instant Message away and would be back with an answer for me practically the second I ended my question with a ‘?’.
Although I was working alone in my bedroom, I never really felt ‘alone’, with the constant support and structure that was available from the Deloitte team. Yes, working from home was a bit difficult at the start but I quickly adapted to the change in circumstances and Deloitte ensured that everything I needed was available to me as quickly as possible.
For anyone who is reading this who is considering doing a Deloitte internship: I would definitely recommend it. The new challenges and opportunities every day really make it an environment in which you can learn and grow both personally and academically. A Deloitte internship is second to none!
Interested in joining Deloitte next summer?
Summer Internship applications open in Winter 2020
