Trainee Tax Advisor Review

I work in the business tax services team which means my role is to assist with working out how much tax a company is due to pay, liase with HMRC on their behalf and advise them on any areas they are unsure of because tax is complicated. As my first year I am introduced to these tasks slowly, and complete more administration tasks on behalf of my seniors eg. billing the client, writing engagement letters, analysing data. However each year I will gain more responsibility, until I am a full Tax Advisor.

In terms of soft skills I have learned how to manage my time more effectively, how to adapt my behaviour to different types and levels of colleagues, as well as general interpersonal skills through my extra projects such as recruiting more school leavers. I am also studying for an accountancy qualification so I have learned lots at college about business and finance, as well as undergoing tax training to learn the legislation that is specific to my job role.

I really enjoy my programme mostly because of the people culture at EY, and as a result, the people I work with. Everyone is really supportive and it's lovely to make friends at work. I expected to have more client facing time, however I now know the process I need to go through to work towards that and that it is the end goal. For now I must focus on the technical work which is difficult but will be worth it.

We have a good feedback culture and I have received lots of positive comments which make me feel valued. I have also received an award for my contributions to other areas within the firm, specifically recruiting further school leavers.

The programme is quite structured but varies a lot depending on which team you get put into. I know it is a fixed 5 years in which I will study for the ACA qualification, but everything else is down to me and how much I choose to develop. There is also an opportunity to extend my qualification to include tax which I think is a good amount of flexibility.

I have only had 10 days of college to date but Kaplan have been really useful because they have tutors on hand to answer our questions, as well as an amazing website which gives us all the content and sets tasks like mock tests to make sure we are revising all the way up to the exams.

EY has a really supportive culture, on beginning the job we were given a: Buddy: someone to handle our day to day queries and help us ease into the team Counsellor: someone to guide us through our career and handle any personal matters where we require support

My salary covers my costs, despite moving out from home and having to pay rent as well. However it is quite tight and I'm not sure whether my salary takes into account that I could be living away from home, as nearly all school leavers still live with their family and have support from them

There's lots of opportunities outside of work, I take advantage of the corporate gym membership, and I'm part of the Birmingham Chartered Accountant Student Society where there are networking and social events. I also help out with a programme which aims to get disadvantaged young people into work, and I'm on the ministry of Fun in my office.

Yes

It has a great inclusive people culture and has strong values which reflect in all the work that is done. It is a fantastic social opportunity as well as being a fantastic place to kick-start your career, due to the high level reputation and many development opportunities.

Before you do anything I suggest just taking an hour to go through the website and perhaps take a few notes; mainly on the culture of EY and vision 2020. If you can understand these then when doing the situational judgement test for example, you will give the answers which are most suited to EY. Stage 1 – CHOOSE This is actually what I’d consider the most important stage of the process. You need to understand what you’re actually applying to. You need to make sure you are ending up within a service line that is suited to your needs. Later in your telephone/partner interview it will come in handy to know your job role inside out, which will also help you to express why you chose that job role. Stage 2 – TESTS I mentioned that research would come in handy for the situational/business behaviour test. Base your answers on the values of EY. It is probably the most difficult part of the application process. All you can do is practise! Here is a link to the ones I used, don’t be disheartened if you fail a few times as it’s a strange style to get used to. http://www.practiceaptitudetests.com/psychometric-tests/ Stage 3 – TELEPHONE INTERVIEW It is really important here to sell yourself. Like I said before, relate your own experiences back to the values of EY. It will focus a lot on your strengths, so make sure you have some examples of what you’re good at and previous times in your life you have proved this. Some questions to prepare answers for: - Why EY? - Why have you applied to the school leaver programme and not university? - What makes EY different to the other big 4? - Why have you applied to this service line and location? - How can you help us achieve vision 2020? Make sure to mention ALL your key skills, they won’t know you have them unless you tell them! When answering a question, don’t just give one word. Tell a story. Remember that EY aren’t hiring you based on your academics – they want enthusiastic people who will care about their job. Make sure you name drop about attending the EY school choices evening…they will like that you’re engaged with us. Stage 4 – ASSESSMENT CENTRE This will involve a group exercise and a written exercise. Group exercise I don’t know the exact task you will be made to do, but that is irrelevant. It’s all about your inter-personal skills – which is what EY are really looking for. I’ve facilitated a mock assessment centre before so I will give you a few things they are looking out for. Were you the quiet or the confident person? Did you support a quiet person to speak, or a confident person to step back? Did you try to relax everyone or encourage anyone? Were you engaged throughout the exercise? Did you offer opinions? When you spoke was it a genuine contribution? Did you ever build upon other people’s points? Saying things like ‘I agree with you because…’ is an example of that. Were your points accurate? Have you brought in your wider knowledge? Have you related things back to the evidence in front of you? One really impressive thing is to be the person to say “right, here’s my watch, I will keep track of the timing of this exercise”. Written exercise I’m not 100% sure, but for this I believe you will be given a series of tasks which involve writing, such as an email or part of a report. They are really looking here for quality not quantity. They will check spelling, grammar, how professionally you put yourself across… your email to me was pretty much a perfect example actually. Sound professional but friendly. Be clever and think outside the box, comments about following up later with a phone call could look quite impressive. Stage 5 – PARTNER INTERVIEW By this stage, reassure yourself with the fact that the hard bit is over. You’ve done the hard stuff. You’re basically guaranteed the job now as long as the partner likes you. Be yourself, come across genuinely. Again, relate your own strengths back to the values of EY. They want to see how you will benefit THEIR team. A partner is the most senior position in the firm. They own part of it, so naturally, they are passionate. Match that passion. If you can, research who the partner for your service line is…you can then look them up on LinkedIn and get an idea of their personality. Be yourself but also tailor your answers to sound appealing. It’s all psychological. My partner interview was actually really pleasant, we got coffee and ate biscuits, it was quite casual. Just be comfortable.