The Birmingham office of business and finance adviser Grant Thornton has again run its internship programme for school students across the West Midlands.
Ten year 12 students from schools including The Ace Academy Tipton, St Benedict’s in Alcester and King Edward VI Stourbridge spent two weeks with the firm’s tax, audit and advisory teams at its Colmore Plaza offices.
The programme included spending time at clients’ premises and working on a real life case study.
READ MORE: {}
Partner Becky Eagle, who devised and launched the programme in 2013, said: “Developing talented people is one of my passions.
“Since launching this programme in 2013, we’ve attracted some very bright young students who may not have considered a career in the business advisory sector.
“It’s a very rewarding programme for us all and one which we’re keen to build upon alongside our pioneering graduate and school-leaver training programmes.”
Grant Thornton’s intern programme in Birmingham, which is managed by Melissa Hollis and Rob Cross, includes several training sessions such as presentation skills which they put into practice with a final group presentation to Grant Thornton’s senior team on their last day.
Ms Eagle added: “Grant Thornton is known for its ground-breaking talent strategy as shown by the recent launch of our shared enterprise proposal.
Most Read
“An important part of this strategy is our school leaver programme, which has more than doubled in the last few years and over 80 such students will join the firm this autumn.
“Kicking off a career as a business adviser straight after school or sixth form college is becoming a viable alternative to going to university and some of our best trainees join the firm via this route.
“In Birmingham last year we offered seven out of the ten school students training positions with us and this year we have continued with that success.
“The programme not only gives us a fantastic opportunity to get to know the students but the bigger opportunity for me is showing them just how great it is to work here.”