Associate Review

I am an associate in assurance for Grant Thornton and I am mostly going out to clients doing audit fieldwork. I go out with a team for most audits and so interact with different members of the firm weekly. I also hold discussions with the clients finance team and work through my tasks with them. I am responsible for completing my work papers on my specific section of the audit.

When I first joined I had two internal training courses with other new starters at Grant Thornton which was in accounting. Since then I have been able to develop my accounting knowledge that I need for my day to day work. I have also attended college at Kaplan for AAT where I have further developed skills in accounting and finance. I am 6 months away from having a AAT qualification.

I enjoy my programme. There is a very good mix of young people in the office and very good socials with work and also working with different people week in week out is good to get to know everyone around the office. It is good to mix with other young professionals at college also.

I feel valued by Grant Thornton. There are points given out for recognition when a job has gone well which can then be turned into cash. I am developing more in my role and am been given different work to be done when out on site. I have regular meetings with my line manager where topics are discussed and action is taken.

My programme is very well structured. During the year I go to college one day a week which breaks up the working week which I enjoy. Kaplan college are very good at teaching and being there if you need help. I have a buddy who has done the process before so if I have any questions I can ask him. It is tough working long hours during the job and then having to revise in the evenings as there is no allowance for revision days from work unless you take your own holiday.

I receive lots of help from Kaplan, my tutors are always available to help me with any questions. The teaching is very thorough and on all courses the last day is always used as revision.

I have resources available with my line manager and buddy. I haven't had to use much support from my employer as Kaplan has been my first point of call.

The salary is good. It meets all my needs although can be a bit tight when I am having to travel to clients.

The company are very open to making sure life outside of work is kept up as I play a lot of sport and we train twice a week at 6pm. If I have a quick word with the job manager before we go out on site, they are able to let me leave early to make sure I keep up my life outside of work. However, I am doing a junior role and I believe as my role develops this might be harder to fulfil as there are tight deadlines on audit work.

Yes

The social side of the work is very good, working and meeting different people most weeks. There are regular events with the office. The college days are enjoyable and the teachers are good fun. The job is very active and you are out on site straight away and different clients means variety in the job. For me it is a better option than University as you earn a decent wage coming out of school and you get qualified in 2 years less than if you took the University route.

Make sure on your CV you have something really interesting to talk about as this can get the conversation in your interview going which helps it flow from there.