Associate Review

JOB title - Associate Daily tasks - When I arrive I start by going through my list of jobs for the day or things I didn't finish on the following day. This varies for each job that I work on as each client is different to the next. I have frequent contact with the client when I need to ask questions to better understand parts of the accounts.

I have already passed one accounting exam and looking to do another in the coming weeks. I have also built up massive confidence in working with the client and seniors and now feel part of each team I work on. I have learnt the importance of an audit for a business and the role we play in helping shareholders and other interested parties.

I thoroughly enjoy the programme which I have signed up too. it has great diversity on the work I perform and the people I work with are friendly and approachable. I have built up plenty of friendships through the job and this has exceeded my expectations of the role and responsibility I would be assigned.

I gain appreciation from managements frequently and have been awarded two recognition awards so far since starting at EY in September. It's a really positive environment and everyone is encouraging you to exceed and expand your knowledge of the role. we gain feedback at regularly times and also this is reviewed with your counsellor at mod year and year end reviews.

Induction - we spent a week in London gaining training before starting the audit work, this enabled us to build up relationships with our colleagues and also gain knowledge before we started our work. Training - we are supported when going to college for our exams and the teams we work with understand that passing our exams is the priority therefore allow us to leave on time so we can revise in the evenings.

the support team are excellent when I had a dyslexic exam they were they to assist with letting the exam organisation know of anything I needed such as additional time in the exam. we were also given contacts at college to contact with questions if we had any which enabled us to expand our knowledge to ensure we passed any exams coming up in the future. our counsellor also kept track of our exam progress and was another option to ask questions too.

The teams allow us to leave when we want so that we can go home to revise which is a benefit as we do not get additional holiday to revise in therefore without this we would have to use up all our holiday around revising for exams. the attitude is good with everyone encouraging you to do well and giving you any assistance you need. for example one of my peers lent me her books so I could read about the course before college started.

as I still live at home I am paid a comfortable amount however if I didn't have this option money would be more of an issue as rent is increasing in Reading and to buy on my wage would be impossible due to house increases over the past 8 years. Similarly the graduates get paid significantly more than the school leavers for doing the same role.

Yes, theres events at work monthly and also I am allowed time out side of work to promote ey at my old college. this is important to me as the awareness of apprentiships for this type of role are not widely available or known about by students. therefore the time allowed for me to visit the colleges and build up a relationship to give the students the knowledge they need to make a choice between apprenticeship and uni.

Yes

It's a great alternative to university as it gives you the qualifications you need and also the experience whilst still paying you a salary. Also the name alone gives you an advantage if you did want to leave when qualified on your CV as many employers will be looking for big 4 candidate, therefore I would recommend this programme over the grad scheme as you also qualify a year earlier.

Application process - make sure you don't rush through the questions otherwise you will make mistakes. Interviews - go in with answers to questions you think could come up and also think of examples of where you have demonstrated this skill as this is what the interviewers will be looking for. Assessment days - just be yourself and if you're right for EY it will show through in the tests. Experience/opportunities - there are loads of opportunities to get involved in so I'd defiantly recommend joining teams and event organisers and also get involved in recruitment.