Associate Review

I am an audit associate. This involves going to client sites and looking at all of their accounts - and testing that the methods they are using and the balances they are showing in their year end reports are correct. We have responsibility over the accounts allocated to us and are put on a variety of different clients.

At the end of my 5 year contract I will be a fully qualified chartered account (with ICAEW and ACA). To get this, we are put through college and many internal trainings to make sure we have the appropriate knowledge to do our day to day job. From this I have developed many skills such as computer skills, analysis skills and time management. From working with different teams I have also developed personal skills - primarily teamwork and communication. These are all skills that are valuable and can be used in future jobs.

I thoroughly enjoy this programme. Not only is this because of the work we perform on a daily basis, but mainly it is because of the variety of different people (both within my company and with clients) that I can work with. EY has a very inclusive culture and everyone is made to feel part of a team at all times.

I feel valued at EY - both from formal and informal appreciation from colleagues. Internal recognition is constantly being delivered and prizes are given to individuals who have delivered above and beyond.

I think my programme is very well structured - the 5 year plan is detailed to us before we start and timings of all trainings (both internal and external) are made available to us. We are also assigned a mentor, who we can go to for anything which enables us to receive the support we may need. When on different clients and projects, work allocations are always created and gone through with every member of the team so everyone knows their responsibilities.

We constantly have available support - for whenever we feel we need it. We have been assigned tutors at college and we are given their contact details from day 1. On the first time meeting them, they were optimistic about our training and very open to offering support should we need it. I enjoy this type of learning and training and I feel the constant availability of communication is vital to successful learning.

We receive excellent support from our employers - not just those in very senior positions, but from every member of the team you are working on. We are always able to ask questions and ask for help, and everyone is always willing to help if you ask for it.

Since the cost of living has gone up in Bristol, our salary does not accurately reflect the cost of living. Having raised this with senior members of the company, this is being looked in to in order to give us a fairer salary compared to the constantly rising price of living. Being on a lot of different clients means that sometimes we have to work away from home - if this is the case, all expenses are paid for including travel, accommodation and evening meals.

We have many company events that we are always invited to get involved in and attend. These are usually organised by the company so that the whole office can come together and take some time outside of work to be with the people we work with.

Yes

I have thoroughly enjoyed my apprenticeship so far and think this programmed provides invaluable opportunities, to both develop personally and in your career.

Prepare for the application process, as it is quite lengthy. they try not to make is daunting or frightening but it is always better to be prepared and ready for questions/tasks they might ask you to answer or complete.