Soaking up the company culture at KPMG internship

With remote working likely to become the new normal, even after the COVID-19 situation is resolved, one secret ingredient could very well make the difference between a cohesive company that acts as one despite being geographically dispersed, and one that struggles to hold its disparate parts together — company culture.

“In fact, a company’s performance during pivotal moments”, argues entrepreneur and leadership coach Jeramiah Solven, “depends entirely on the culture that has shaped every level of its operations and practices.”

Little wonder, then, that company culture is often top of mind for both employers and employees, who want to ensure there is a good fit mutually. “Work culture is one of the factors I prioritise when deciding on the firms I want to work for,” says Ridhima Goyal, who is currently enrolled in SMU’s Master of Science in Management (MiM) programme and serving as a Management Consultant intern at KPMG Singapore. What she has experienced of this professional services firm’s culture during the past four months has been eye-opening.

“KPMG has a very vibrant and different culture,” says Ridhima. “Your colleagues can be professional and personal at the same time, which defines their vigilance and preparedness to deal with different situations. I never felt lost in my time at KPMG; there was always somebody to guide me, and the people I worked with are very talented and humble.”

“I will definitely be looking for a similar culture when it comes to future jobs, because in the end the people you work with and the environment you work in have a huge influence on your performance.”

As for how she snagged this coveted internship, Ridhima approached it in a very systematic way. She graduated with a Bachelor of Technology from the Indira Gandhi Delhi Technical University for Women and worked as a Solution Integrator for IT firm Ericsson. In the MiM programme, she had chosen to focus on Finance, and wanted to move towards a financial advisory role that would also utilise her tech experience.

“KPMG amalgamated all these aspects I was considering and is one of the leading consulting firms, which was a bonus,” she explains. “I was very clear on my expectations of the internship, in terms of both the company and the role. I wanted to try a management role. The key is to start early, and I would suggest that students be proactive. Attending career fairs and leveraging Ontrac (SMU’s career services management system) is just as important as building the skills that will help you to attain the internship.”

Once she started the internship, KPMG’s hands-on culture ensured that she got a full experience of what it was like to work in the company. “From the very first day, I was a part of client interactions, which gave me a wider view of how the consulting industry operates and how important it is to build a relationship with the clients while running the meetings,” says Ridhima.

She was also able to take part in the 101 sessions hosted by KPMG, which are cross-functional learning opportunities for full-time employees. “I signed up for Business Analytics 101, to broaden my skills and prepare myself for more business-oriented roles in future.”

Other highlights of the internship for her include an instance where she streamlined an important process for a project, communicated the change effectively to the team, and earned appreciation from the client for her initiative. Through it all, Ridhima was able to apply the skills she had honed in the MiM programme.

“The course has enhanced my strategic management and decision-making mindset. Giving presentations, getting feedback from professors, and experiencing different team dynamics has also developed core skills that I was able to apply during my internship.”

Indeed, the internship has underlined for her the fact that each project, team, and client brings distinct nuances that requires a strong ability to adapt and deliver. And after working in an advisory role, she is more convinced than ever that she wants to pursue the career path of a consultant, perhaps with a financial services focus.

“These 20 weeks of internship at KPMG have been a full package of new experiences, fun, rigorous hours, challenges and a lot of late-night parties. I particularly remember a beach barbeque where, for the first time, I connected with my team in an informal setting. The bonding in my team was remarkable, which was evident from the work we delivered,” she says.