Category Archives: Accounting and Finance

Morgan Hill Consultants – Employer Case Study

Accounting and Auditing, Accounting and Finance, Administration, Banking and Financial Services, Business and Management, Degree subject, Employer Feedback, Management and Consultancy, Student Business Partnership (SBP), , , ,

 

Name of Organisation: Morgan Hill Consultants

Description of Organisation: We are a team comprising ex CIO’s of multinational businesses, finance professionals, data analysts, data scientists and systems architects. Together we bring hundreds of years of experience in delivering deep insight, cost optimisation and effective deployment of technology inside large organisations.

Name of Employer: Nigel Duke

Job Title: Managing Director

Internship Scheme used:  SBP

Student Business Partnership (SBP) – Employment Services – University of Exeter

Feedback:

We recruited a Data Analyst Support Intern through the Student Business Partnership with the University of Exeter. They helped with the development of a very promising ML algorithm to classify finance data for further analytics. It all went according to plan, there were no issues at all, and it was produced for a very high standard.

We were very impressed with the calibre of the student. We offered our intern an extension which she accepted, and we look forward to continuing working with her.

Our experience was very positive. Our intern was extremely intelligent, diligent, co-operative and very willing to get involved. It was a very positive experience and one that I hope may be repeated.

Finance Assistant – Liverpool Victoria Friendly Society

Access to Internships (A2I), Accounting and Auditing, Accounting and Finance, Banking and Financial Services, Business and Management, Economics, Mathematics

What were your main roles and responsibilities during the course of your internship?

As part of the finance team, I took on any extra work required. This included work such as composing a review on specific products, which comprised of an overview of the product and analysis of particular cash flows in order to determine the most profitable as well as providing insight to the performance of the product. Another responsibility I undertook as part of the internship was compiling account balances then data mapping these in order to create trial balances of various subsidiary accounts. I also verified bank reconciliations.

What would you say was your biggest achievement over the course of your internship?

Over the course of the internship, I taught myself how to efficiently data map and use Excel in a more exceeding manner, which will be beneficial in any finance position.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

Any part of the finance department would give me work that they were unsure how to do (usually on excel) or if they needed any support doing tasks. This would have helped provide the company work more efficiently than otherwise.

What skills were you able to develop through the internship?

Communication, problem solving, networking

What attributes were you able to develop through the internship?

Confidence, motivation, logical thinking

ESI Research Assistant – University of Exeter, Penryn

Access to Internships (A2I), Accounting and Finance, Administration, Business and Management, Economics, Education, Teaching and Research, Geography, Politics and Government, Politics and International Relations

What were your main roles and responsibilities during the course of your internship?

During my time as a research assistant I had one main role – this was to research Circular Economy in both theory and practice across several different nations. Nations and areas researched included Costa Rica, Kenya and the European Union which was to be used during presentations and a very brief start to a research paper. I was given a new nation to research each time I finished my work making this was my main role in ESI.

What would you say was your biggest achievement over the course of your internship?

My ability to research effectively and put it into writing vastly improved.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

I was able to lighten the workload for my professor who is currently researching a project.

What skills were you able to develop through the internship?

Communication, problem solving, time and workload management

What attributes were you able to develop through the internship?

Initiative, logical thinking, professionalism

Equity Sales Intern – Redburn

Access to Internships (A2I), Accounting and Auditing, Accounting and Finance, Administration, Banking and Financial Services, Business and Management, Economics, Management and Consultancy

What were your main roles and responsibilities during the course of your internship?

During my internship I shadowed a member of the equity sales team and supported them with their tasks. My tasks included: preparing materials for clients (including reports and presentations), making note of market news stories on a timely basis, researching companies and building a relationship with the research team, and, creating a network with employees and other interns. Over the internship I also carried out a research project.

What would you say was your biggest achievement over the course of your internship?

My biggest achievement was adding value directly to clients – this was most evident when a piece of research that I had written about dividend stocks, was included in an email to a client.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

I was able to reduce the workload of colleagues (e.g. by manipulating data on excel, to free up their time). I was also able to improve the offering to clients, by producing a sector specific information pack for income investors.

What skills were you able to develop through the internship?

Communication, IT, networking

What attributes were you able to develop through the internship?

Commercial awareness, perseverance, creative thinking

Events & Marketing Executive – Make it Marketing

Access to Internships (A2I), Accounting and Finance, Advertising, Marketing and PR, Hospitality and Event Management,

postitnoteWhat were your main duties and responsibilities during the course of your internship?

Supported the marketing manager in devising and presenting ideas and strategies, promotional activities, compiling and distributing financial and statistical information, writing reports, organising events, monitoring performance and managing campaigns on social media.

What would you say was your biggest achievement over the course of your internship?

Learning about how to use my University degree in the real world.

“I had not had anyone else work for me who performed work so efficiently and to such a high standard. Her organisational skills are second to none and I could always count on her to take good initiative to keep client projects progressing” – Line Manager.

 

Resource Management Intern – Low and Behold

Access to Internships (A2I), Accounting and Finance, Environmental Work, Management and Consultancy, Student Business Partnership (SBP),

sky-clouds-blue-horizon

What were your main duties and responsibilities during the course of your internship?

I worked on three big projects during two weeks. I was given real responsibilities. For the first project, I managed project planning, created budget sheets, drafted proposal outlines, carried out competitor analysis and assessed risks. For the second project about report writing, I did cost-benefit analysis and literature review. For the third project, I undertook information searching to see whether current legislation and regulation are revised according to our recommendation in 2010.

What would you say was your biggest achievement over the course of your internship?

I am not afraid of working in an office environment any more. I can still concentrate on my work even if I am in a big office with many people. I am not afraid of expressing my ideas any more. If there is any problem with my thoughts, others can always remind me and this allows me to develop.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

I delivered my work on time and helped lighten my manager’s workload. I filled out sheets and proposals with more details and also double checked the work that had been already done. I communicated my ideas to my manager and many of these were adopted.

Did you encounter any problems during the course of your internship and if so, how did you overcome them?

I was not familiar with the background information relating to environment, but my manager  introduced many topics to me with simple language. I also used my common sense to understand or searched for more information by myself. I never rushed into finishing the task. Once I had a general understanding, the work became easier.

eXepert Administrator – University of Exeter Employment Services

Accounting and Finance, Administration, Hospitality and Event Management, Human Resources, Recruitment and Training, Student Campus Partnership (SCP),

man-people-space-desk

What were your main duties and responsibilities during the course of your internship?

My main roles and responsibilities during the course of the internship were very much administratively based. My fundamental responsibility was to provide administrative support for a scheme which offers students and recent graduates the opportunity to contact alumni for careers advice, although I was also encouraged to widen the scheme and ensure that it was constantly improving. In my second year of the internship, I widened my responsibilities further to help more with the Career Mentoring Scheme and did some admin and event organisation within this.

What would you say was your biggest achievement over the course of your internship?

The biggest achievement over the course of my internship was helping to plan and coordinate the first ‘meet your mentor’ event. I had never undertaken a project like this before and it was a really exciting new challenge. Coordinating the different aspects of the event and ensuring everything ran smoothly ensured I learnt lots very quickly, and I would definitely like to pursue something similar to this in my future career.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

I ran a scheme called eXepert, which matched students and alumni up in short term mentoring relationships. I worked solely on this scheme supporting students from the application stage to the feedback stage. The benefit this had to my employer was an increased awareness of careers advice for students, as well as maintaining important relationships with alumni.

Did you encounter any problems during the course of your internship and if so, how did you overcome them?

No problems! I always felt really well supported throughout the internship. The biggest challenge I encountered was my line manager leaving just a few weeks into my role and therefore not having someone there to ask questions to as I was settling into the role. The wider team were really supportive, however, and I was able to settle into the role through the use of intuition and resources supplied by my predecessor.

Accounting Assistant – Polgoon Winery

Access to Internships (A2I), Accounting and Auditing, Accounting and Finance, Employer Feedback

calculator-calculation-insurance-finance-53621

What were your main duties and responsibilities during the course of your internship?

My daily responsibilities included raising sale orders and invoices, logging new purchase invoices and updating costing spreadsheets, purchase account reconciliation, cashing up and reconciling cash/ card balances, updating the shop sales cash sheet and petty cash book. I also had to liaise with customers, suppliers and staff members to solve various issues. I logged payments received from customers and undertook various administrative duties to support smooth business operations. I had also learnt and participated  in wine/ cider production process and updated various production costing sheets

What would you say was your biggest achievement over the course of your internship?

Learning about the challenges and potential of running a small business in this sector, working in an office environment and supporting business needs.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

I lightened the workload of the Accounting Manager and Marketing Manager allowing them to focus on more complex problems during high season.

“Having the help of an intern with a fresh, current and up to date knowledge of the sector greatly helped their integration in to a busy working environment in a short time.  The positive attitude and working ethic of a student trying to learn as much as they can in order to increase their ability and grade was in turn a positive experience for us” – Line Manager.

Business Tax Services – EY

Access to Internships (A2I), Accounting and Auditing, Accounting and Finance, Banking and Financial Services,

coins-currency-investment-insurance

What were your main duties and responsibilities during the course of your internship?

My roles were very similar to those of a newly recruited graduate. I was taken to client meetings where I had to take minutes, I rang HMRC to discuss penalties and refunds, I wrote a tax review memorandum that was sent to a client, I did basic tax computations for smaller companies and completed an ASQ (assessment of service quality) with one of the partners, among other things.

What would you say was your biggest achievement over the course of your internship?

I had a project to research BEPS (base erosion and profit shifting) and present this to the executive director and senior manager at the end of my time there. I had to apply the information I discovered to a company, investigating the effect that the new OECD rules could have specifically for them.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

During my internship the graduates in my office had time to complete at college. During this time I took over their jobs to help reduce the workload of my colleagues. They found this particularly useful and asked me to stay on longer to continue my work.

Career Mentor Administrator – University of Exeter

Accounting and Finance, Administration, Employer Feedback,

Universtiy of Exeter Internships, UoE Internships, SCP, SBP, GBP, A2I

What were your main duties and responsibilities during the course of your internship?

  • Communicating with current and potential mentors regarding the Career Mentor Scheme.
  • Promoting the scheme via social media platforms and various on-campus marketing tools.
  • Recruiting students onto the scheme and shortlisting applicants.
  • Maintaining a database of mentors and mentees which needed constant updating.

What would you say was your biggest achievement over the course of your internship?

My biggest achievement was being able to confidently network. As a result of the development of my networking skills, I have been able extend my professional network and contacts within and outside the University. Many of the contacts have eventually helped me in some way or the other with my graduate job applications, for example, with industry insights, company news and culture, etc.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

I believe I contributed to exceeding the mentor and mentee recruitment targets, and thus increased the size of the upcoming schemes.

“Abrar  developed good working relationships with colleagues within the team and has been willing to contribute to wider Employment Services team and Career Zone activities. With Abrar’s administrative support the Career Mentor Scheme has been successful in exceeding growth targets to achieve a 98% increase in the number of mentoring matches for the academic year 2013-14.” – Career Mentoring Coordinator