Corporate Assistant Review

My role involves helping senior staff in the office with a variety of tasks but also going out on audits. I have interactions with clients daily on audits and internally I interact with almost all staff within the audit team.

I have learnt a massive amount of new skills both from doing the work in office, being taught by other staff members but also from being on audit and experiencing how clients operate.

Coming from a job where I produced a tangible product every day was hard but after managing myself to gain satisfaction from learning rather than tangible produce I have come to enjoy the job much more, especially stock takes and audits.

I feel appreciated by almost all members of staff, especially Jon Marchant who has been very understanding and helpful. Staff do value your input, especially because your charge out rate will be much much smaller than theirs.

My programme is organised and there is plenty of support available, all staff are happy to help you with exams, things you don't know etc. In my case I was put through the exams initially at graduate speed and with no accounting experience and coming straight from school, I failed them all which was disheartening and put strikes through my allowed fails.

Initially the support was very good but beyond the days actually spent at college the support dropped to almost 0. I have asked for more support via a director and am waiting to see if this materialises. The initial intensive learning can be daunting but was actually very helpful (this will be heavily determined on which tutor you have).

You can receive as much support as you need to enable you to both work well and happily but also support for passing your exams. Support is always available. I think Mazars have a very good ethos for exam help because they do want you to pass exams. The mentoring was almost non-existent, however as everyone is always happy to help this didn't really matter.

Currently as a school leaver the salary can become quite tight when living on your own, I personally suggest living with your parents until your salary goes up. However it is possible to move out at 18 and not live with parents, however be prepared to have to be quite tight with money. It will be impossible to do without financial help if you have to commute via train each day more than 10 mins.

There are always opportunities being offered at work for events and seminars etc that you can almost always go to, often free of charge which is very nice. Mazars also offer a charity initiative which you can get involved in.

Yes

Yes, because its an excellent step toward a rewarding career, however I don't think I would recommend entering as a school leaver as you do miss out on certain aspects of being young. Either take a gap year after school or go to uni and study for exam exemptions.

I would say when applying to Mazars make sure you have lots of evidence of skills outside of school as I believe education level has very little effect on ability and is often a better demonstrator of qualities. When I applied I would of like to of been told realistically how much extra unpaid hours of work you will be expected to put in.