Trainee Associate Review

I am a trainee auditor working in assurance, in particular I work on real estate and hospitality clients. Day to day, this involves performing various tests and analytical procedures to ensure client's financial statements are fairly stated.

I am training to become a chartered accountant with ICAEW, so I have learnt a lot of accounting knowledge from the 6 exams I have sat so far. I've also been on a number of internal training courses that teach you various skills such as how to use EY programmes, excel and other professional skills that are needed on the job such as presentation skills and confidence with clients.

I am enjoying it more as I get further into it and learn more. I enjoy the work and find it interesting, we always work in teams which I really enjoy as quite a socialable person. The company very much has a 'people' culture and there are always lots of social events and chances to discuss your views with partners of the company. Although there is still so much to learn and therfore lots of challenges ,overall, I am really enjoying it.

Managers are supportive and provide positive feedback if you've done something well. Also, it is easy to discuss your views with seniors in the company, as they hold breakfasts with the Partners.

It is not as structured as it could be. We don't get information about our next exams/progression until quite late in the day. There is also inconsistency across the departments regarding exams, as some people seem to be allowed more retakes than others before they are dismissed. I personally feel this is a bad area to be inconsistent. However when things have been scheduled in (college, training) the structure of the courses is very good.

As much as I need, except for our last exams which were on 2nd January, Kaplan closed for 2 weeks prior to this for Christmas which meant we had to self stufy and try and solve any queries alone.

As much as needed, the councillor system works well where we are assigned a councillor (usually assistant manager or manager in the same department) and they help us with any queries or issues we may have. There is also a lot of help pages online so if you do have any other problems, it's easy to find where you should go to solve them.

It's very reasonable, it covers my living, travel and daily costs with a decent amount left for social costs. However, I live with a parent and pay very little ren (£200). I plan to move out with a few other people from the team and money will be very tight when I am paying 'proper rent'.

Yes theres a lot of opportunities to do careers fairs, speak to school pupils about the programme. There is also an opportunity to do 2 charity days a year, although I have not done this yet.

Yes

They take you and your career seriously and you're not valued any differently that a graduate working at the same level (except the pay!). They are a very 'people' company and although they expect you to work hard, they offer plenty opportunities to play hard too.

Take the application process seriously, especially the online assessments as it would be a waste to not get through that part because you weren't concentrating fully. The assessment day is a lot of fun, so think about how you can show your skills don't over prepare jusy go with the flow, you'll probably learn a lot about yourself too. I would have liked to have known more about the day-to-day work of an auditor, so make sure to research your role or even contact somebody from EY on linkedin who is in the role you're aspiring to do.