An internship with impact
July 20, 2022
Tiffany Chan started her Accenture career with a six-month internship in 2021. Find out more about the opportunities she was given and how she was supported to deliver work with a real impact.
I’d already done a couple of shorter internships when I reached the final semester of my commerce/law degree. I saw an ad for the Accenture internship program on LinkedIn, and as I was only doing one final subject, I thought this would be a fantastic chance to work full time while completing my last subject.
But even though I’d done previous internships, I was so surprised by my Accenture experience. As a six-month program, compared to the shorter internships I had previously done, the opportunities to learn, grow and have a real impact blew me away.
In the iconic Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto, Japan
Seeing my work have a real impact
For the duration of my internship, I was on the same project, working in the documentation stream to develop the processes and systems required for a new auto finance company.
Right from the start, I was given a lot of responsibility. In my first week I was talking to client stakeholders, running meetings, and being trusted to take ownership of my parts of the project. Working on the same project over six months, I could see how the work I was doing was going to have a real impact on how the client would be able to better service customers.
The room to learn
One of the things I really didn’t expect from working on the implementation of a transformation project like this was the attention to detail that is required. But more importantly, it was the amount of opportunity available that was really unexpected.
As well as the growth of my technical skills, it was the development of my soft skills where I think I was given the chance – and the support – to grow the most.
This included the myriad of opportunities available to build stakeholder management skills through lots of client interaction, which is something I truly did not expect as an intern. I learnt a lot about how to align on expectations, by talking through any issues and challenges with my internal and the client team.
I also developed valuable time management skills. With such a large project, I regularly needed to work out how to prioritise different tasks allocated by multiple people. I learnt that it’s important to seek help when you don’t know what to do first, as well as communicating transparently as soon as you anticipate any challenges with delivering by the deadline. Ultimately, everything can be worked out – you just need to communicate before it’s too late.
In Tasmania with friends earlier this year in February!
A network of support
As well as the support of my project team, I also had the support of the wider internship program. This included a network of interns who started at the same time, with weekly catch ups to see how everyone was going. In addition to the challenges of joining a huge organisation like Accenture where you don’t know anyone, we also joined virtually due to COVID-19 lockdowns. Being able to rely on each other for support as we were learning how to navigate the corporate world was a big help!
In addition, there’s also all the HR systems to help streamline your internship, including a dedicated people partner for any HR-related questions. Despite joining remotely, Accenture really nailed all the training to make sure we had everything we needed to be able to succeed.
Ultimately, deciding to put my fear aside and apply for an internship at Accenture was a great move for me. It’s an incredible place to start your career, where you are given plenty of responsibility with the room to fail and the support to succeed.
Are you looking to kickstart your career? Applications for Accenture Summer Internship program is open until 24 July 2022. Find out more.
