Associate, Assurance- Governement and Public Sector Review

I am an associate in assurance (audit). This involves checking figures in financial statements by performing certain tests and regular interactions with both colleagues (including managers) and members of the client finance team. I have responsibilities for completing my work and managing my time.

I have completed various training courses to help me perform my job to the required standard. I have also attended college in order to complete and pass exams. These are professional exams and skills that will assist with my job.

The team that I work with is brilliant and I feel that this really helps improve my experience. I feel that there is a lot more travel than I expected and longer hours. Generally however, I enjoy it.

I feel valued by my team but the tone from the top almost provides an opinion of us being a resource to be used. The internal recognition has reduced since joining and there are now less rewards for hard work which I feel makes me feel less valued by EY as a whole. Although, I can tell that my immediate team members value me- it is just they are more restricted by the management at the top as to how they can reward people now.

Very well organised. Although, would have appreciated not having such a long wait between my college and my first exam- I find it very hard to remember the content for an exam over a period of 9 months on top of having to remember the day job. Would have preferred to sat the exam sooner. Aside from that, it is very well organised.

A lot of support. Tutors very helpful and knowledgeable. I felt this improved my knowledge and meant I was in a good position before sitting the exam.

The immediate team are very accepting of exams and training. However, due to the tight deadlines, sometimes they have no choice with regards to letting you leave at a reasonable time. At the end of the day the job has to be done and that sometimes mean that the revision time is compromised. The management and colleagues are very supportive on the job and happy to help although sometimes it is hard to ask questions as everyone else is so busy. They would be happy to help but you feel bad asking as you know they will have to stay longer to complete their work. ALso, it is sometimes difficult to adjust to so many different management styles especially with managers whose method of coaching is different to what you would prefer.

The salary meets my current expenditure well. However, I do have very minimal outgoings as I still live at home. I feel that however, there is no form of compensation for the additional hours that we are expected to do and the additional travel we have including long periods of time on jobs where we are required to stay away.

There are a lot of opportunities outside of work and I feel these are great to go to and well organised. However, sometimes I do not wish to go to them as I would rather spend time with my family who I see less due to the amount of jobs where there is a requirement to stay away.

Yes

I feel as an opportunity it is great and the programme is brilliant. However, I feel that the tone from the top and the additional expections that are required from you are not communicated to you before you join and sometimes I do not feel as valued for the additional work required. I also feel that as an employee who does not live close to the office, the travel to get to clients can be quite overwhelming and there does not seem to be much sympathy for the fact that I do not want to live in the city- I am almost made to feel that it is my fault that I do not live near the office and therefore, I shall just have to accept that travel time to clients will be longer. I know this is the case but for a normal job you know your standard commute to the office. However, on this job you are hardly ever in the office and so my commute could be anything up to 2 hours each way before it is considered to let me stay over. I know people try their best to accommodate me but I almost feel penalised for not living near the office (which tends to be where the cut off is determined from).

Try your best and be yourself- at the end of the day they need to determine whether they can work with you. There is no need to pretend to be someone else as you will soon be found out.