Trainee Accountant Review

I work within the accounts team as a trainee accounts and provide support to the managers and seniors. My daily tasks would involve a mixture of management accounts, statutory accounts, treasury payments, VAT returns and admin type jobs. I'm responsible for different tasks on different clients and communicate with both members in my team and the client on a daily basis.

I am studying towards my ACA qualification so I am continually learning new skills in terms of an academic view. However during my time at work I have done a lot of training in Excel, Sage, Caseware, NAV, Sharepoint, Accounts IQ and netsuite which I didn't have much experience in before. Additionally, I have developed some valuable life skills, for example, time keeping, planning/organising, team work and communication.

The team I work in are great, everyone is friendly and supportive and we all work well together. I think the good team environment is encouraged by the company culture as our core values include mutual support and honesty. The work can sometimes be varied however, some days I will be super busy and others I will be lost with nothing to do. I think my team are good at giving me different jobs to do but I think during the first couple of weeks, it could have been a little more organised. I do enjoy the programme and I think it is a good experience.

There is a lot of internal recognition at my firm, by way of Thank You notes, awards and just general feedback. I feel more involved that I thought I would with some jobs and it motivates me to think that I am given the responsibility to do things by myself, I guess I feel trusted. I do feel valued by my team and it's very good in the fact that we are all treated equally, there aren't many big divides between managers, seniors or even trainees like me.

I think the programme I'm on could do with some improvements in terms of the organisation and structure. However, I am aware that there is research and ongoing developments to improve this. The training is probably the most organised thing about the programme and it's good that you have an idea of when your college courses and exams will be over the course of the year. My counselling manager is also thankfully very organised and I have regular meetings with her which keeps me on track and up to date with any changes. Most of the job handovers I have experienced have been pretty sucessful, however I don't think there was much organisation involved, so could perhaps be a future development area?

The tutor I had at college was very good, he was a good teacher but also made me feel comfortable that I could go to him with any problems. On occasion, i have contacted him outside of my college week for help/guidance and he has been very supportive and willing to help. The college week I have experienced was very enjoyable, it was nice to meet other people my age who are going down the same route as me.

I have never really had any contact with the HR team so I wouldn't be able to comment. However in terms of the team I work with, everyone is very supportive. As mentioned before I have regular meetings with my manager and I am confident that I could easily get the support I needed if necessary. Almost everyone in my team has been in my shoes starting a new job and doing the accountancy qualifications so they are all very open to helping me and sorting any problems I have.

I am very comfortable with my Salary, especially for someone of my age. I think my main cost would be travel but I have a long commute so it's not very surprising.

My firm are very good at organising social events and getting people involved in activities outside of work. We have regular socials and events which is nice as you get to speak to people outside your team and meet new people. There are also some sport clubs which are run at my firm and everyone is always encourage to get involved in sporting competitions like dodgeball, football and netball. With regards to the local community and charity events, my firm are very open and supportive. Things that I have witnessed going on in the firm are Byte Night and fundraising events.

Yes

I think it is a good programme for someone wanting to get into the accounting / finance career. It gives an opportunity and support to someone like me who wasn't keen on going to University. The training and experience given are excellent and would put anyone in a good position for a prosperous career. Also, everyone I work with is very friendly and I've met so many new and intriguing people through social events and clubs.

I think the application process can be quite challenging but my advice would be to just be yourself and to try and get your natural skills and abilities noticed. There isn't really much preparation you can do for the Assessment Day, but for the interviews I would just have planned and have organised some answers with regards to why you want to work for the company and what interests you about the job. I would have liked to have been told to carry out some thorough research into the company and also current affairs before applying as you are expected to know quite a lot and are tested on a wide variety of different topics.