Assistant Associate Review

I joined the Corporate Audit department as an Assistant Associate. This role involves working on a variety of different clients within an audit team. Each member of the audit team is allocated certain sections of the audit to work on and your responsibility will be to obtain the relevant information from the clients for your section and perform the appropriate testing. When on client site you will primarily liaise with the clients and also have heavy interactions with members your audit team.

There are a lot of skills that you learn and develop within your first year alone. You will be studying towards a professional qualification for the duration of your contract with your training provider as well as learning on the job at the same time. There are several training courses which are held such as 'The Audit Experience' which gave me a first insight into audit testing, and many others which help to enhance your overall audit knowledge, IT skills and client interactions.

I thoroughly enjoy being able to work with different people on a daily basis. The diversity of clients Deloitte has within Corporate Audit means that I am able to get exposure to a wide range of different types of businesses and learn how they operate. Deloitte is also a well recognised firm worldwide which means that I am able to get a headstart with my career at a very young age.

Despite the fact that I am considerably younger than the majority of employees, I feel that Deloitte values me the same as any other graduate trainee and those of the grades above. The managers appreciate that I am a school leaver and therefore don't necessarily have the same level of experience as others. They are able to take this into consideration when assigning work to me without undermining my capability. My involvement within audits and other external activities is also always appreciated to the same extent as others working within the firm.

I would say that the programme is well organised. There is a clear structure of how you will progress throughout the firm in terms of promotion through different grades, working through the professional qualification and exams, and also the responsibilities and tasks that you will be expected at your level as you go through the scheme.

There is a good amount of support available when working through the professional qualification. There are various student forums and discussion pages which allow you to ask questions to ICAS tutors regarding the course material or anything else you may be unsure of. This can be particularly handy in the run up to exam time.

On joining the firm you will be allocated an ICAS mentor, a work mentor, a buddy and an appraisal manager. All of these people are on hand to answer any questions you may have for formally/informally and help to make the transition from school to work a lot easier.

The salary package differs for each office location in consideration with living and travel costs etc. I would say that my salary has been appropriately set and enables me to meet all of my needs comfortably. The fact that your salary is also likely to increase each year as you are promoted through the grades is an extra plus.

The social committee holds regular events such as exam drinks, bowling, go-karting, pub quizzes and many others which is a great way to meet other people within the firm who don't necessarily work in the same department as you. The firm also sponsors various different charities which have dress down days and boardroom drinks on the last Friday of each month for a small donation and several other events throughout the course of the year.

Yes

It's a great way to get hands on experience in a professional environment at such a young age. You will be able to develop valuable skills and gain exposure to numerous types of businesses- all of which is beneficial for someone who has a strong interest in the business and finance sector.

Practise the online tests beforehand and make sure you're comfortable with difficulty of questions which could come up. Try to do some mock interviews to build up confidence and get a feel for the things you may be asked on and just generally be yourself.