Summer internships: where ambition and imposter syndrome so often collide.
At KPMG, the tiny fraction of applicants who landed a coveted place on its program are now working to secure a full-time job post-graduation.
A summer internship at a Big Four professional services firm is as competitive as it is prestigious. For most interns, the two-month KPMG internship comes after more than 18 months of applications, networking, and building up their resumé. Just 2,200 of more than 42,000 applicants made the cut this year.
Business Insider asked KPMG partners, including its head of talent, how they should impress in an office of busy people, new AI-enabled ways of working, and tight competition.
Soft skills and good attitudes
“You are in a job interview for the whole internship,” Wendy Lewis, managing partner of KPMG’s Richmond, Virginia office, told BI at the company’s purpose-built Lakehouse in Florida, where around 225 interns gathered in June for four days of inductions and training.
Interns often have a misconception that they only need to be technically impressive, but soft skills are equally important, Lewis said.
She told BI she’s interested in whether interns can communicate well, take initiative, and demonstrate their eagerness to learn.
Leaders aren’t expecting interns to conduct audits themselves, Lewis added — attitude makes them stand out.
Jason LaRue, KPMG’s national talent & culture lead, also emphasized the importance of attitude. LaRue told BI that an intern should be “a great learner.”
He said that requires transitioning from classroom learning to an environment where you learn on the job with colleagues. “You have to make that shift from one mindset to the other,” he added.
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KPMG interns start that transition at the firm’s Lakehouse, where they attend training sessions and can unwind with mini-golf and karaoke alongside partners and their peers, before returning to work in KPMG offices around the country.
Be a ‘sponge’
“The people who really stand out and are the ones who are sponges. They’re looking to be able to build new skills all the time to give themselves that extra advantage,” LaRue said.
Becky Sproul, the talent and culture leader for KPMG’s audit division, said interns should show curiosity, especially amid rapid change in the industry.
The Big Four are restructuring as they try to recover from a recent slowdown in demand for consulting, while also trying to anticipate how AI will change the world of work and their business models.
Sproul described the industry’s rapid pace of change as “the new world order.” In that kind of environment, continuous learning and agility are important traits, she said.
KPMG
Rema Serafi, KPMG’s vice chair of tax, said interns should show curiosity about the firm’s business model and take advantage of its tech tools. Show that you’re “interested in what we do as a business,” she said.
She said some Gen Zers now entering the workforce are already knowledgeable about generative AI and automation.
“Ideas are welcome,” Serafi said, adding that she wanted to know how interns thought KPMG could enhance its use of generative AI.
Overcoming impostor syndrome
BI spoke to two KPMG interns at the Lakehouse who said they were worried about impostor syndrome.
“I’ve talked to interns about this too, not just at KPMG but also my friends interning at other companies, and impostor syndrome comes up a lot,” said Andre Gaviola, a 21-year-old audit intern, adding it could feel intimidating to be around so many older, more experienced people.
Evelyn Nunez-Alfaro, a 22-year-old tax intern, told BI that, though she loved stepping outside her comfort zone, she has wondered, “Am I really supposed to be here?”
“Deep down, usually we all feel the same. We’re a little nervous, we’re a little scared, and don’t want to ask the wrong question or seem like we don’t know,” Nunez-Alfaro said.
LaRue told BI he advised interns to find support figures in their workplace who can coach them through moments of imposter syndrome and sponsor them as they progress in their careers.
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At a Q&A at the Lakehouse, one intern asked partners what advice they had for managing impostor syndrome.
Lewis told the interns to build up their self-confidence and realize that they can be themselves and still be successful.
Tell yourself, “I am confident. I can do this. I do belong here,” she said.
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