Trainee Associate Review

Audit associate, interacting daily with EY audit teams and external clients. Work so far has mostly been auditing of company balance sheet accounts for limited and some public companies.

Have earned the CFAB qualification and am working towards full Chartered Accountancy. Have completed several internal courses on teamwork, IT applications and client confidence. I have learned to cope with managing work and time and my ability to interact with people has improved dramatically.

The work is often demanding but the future pay-offs should be worth it. The company has an excellent culture and everyone I have met has been lovely.

Recognition is limited, perhaps because everyone is working so hard and expectations are so high. It is easy to feel expendable which can be demotivating.

The programme itself could use improvements in structuring, particularly communication with school leavers about exam timetables, remuneration and expectations at different levels (as these seem to be different from those of graduates but this has not been communicated to managers).

Kaplan have been extremely accommodating and tutors are just an email away.

Support is available from my counsellor and managers who have made themselves available for any concerns I may have. I do however get the feeling that the attitude to support is one of reluctant necessity.

Not very well at all. 2/3rds of my salary is immediately gone on rent and bills. The remaining third must be split between food, train tickets to visit friends and family to maintain relationships that are important to me, and weekend activities. I have nothing left to save after this and can struggle some months. This is becoming a sensitive issue for me as responsibilities and expectations of me increase but pay does not reflect it. It is also disheartening to know that first year graduates who I am teaching are being paid significantly more than me.

There are a lot of opportunities outside of work communicated often, usually to do with helping the local community through charity work or business events.

No

The majority of my friends would not enjoy this line of work.

Be natural during the interview process (they can see through an act!). Be active in your interaction with other candidates. Ask as many questions as you think you need answering.