Audit Associate Review

I work in the assurance department and more specifically in the insurance sector. No day is ever the same and I am always presented with new and exciting opportunities. I often travel and go to different client sites to carry out audit work and since joining have been involved with many different aspects of the audit.

Since joining I have massively developed my communication skills, I have gone from being fairly unconfident to meeting and interacting with new people every single day and dealing with clients effectively. I have also developed my organisational skills and can now tackle tasks in an efficient manner and prioritise the order in which I can complete theme in. I have also learnt other new skills such as how to use excel to complete a range of different actions.

I absolutely love my programme and would recommend it to anyone interested in finance. There is always new and exciting to work to get involved with and I am treated equal to anyone else in the company despite only being an apprentice. There is opportunities for travel and also a range of different club, networks and events to get involved in. The opportunities are endless.

I feel extremely valued by EY and I feel as though if I want to get involved in a certain project or area of the business then there is always someone willing to listen and help me do this. Even those of the highest level within the company take the time out to listen to my ideas and I feel they are often taken on board.

I feel as though my programme is extremely well organised. There are frequent email updates in regards to training and events coming up and there are also regular catch up sessions as a peer group to share any concerns or issues. We receive frequent training and mentoring to guide us through our programme.

Kaplan provides a lot of support for the apprentices training with them. There are always tutors available after college and if you ever send them an email they are very quick to respond. All of the training material provided by them is very useful and there are so many different resources available to help prepare us for exams.

EY provide a huge amount of support to everyone on the school leaver programme. When you first join you are assigned to a buddy who essentially shows you around the office and is your first port of call for any initial questions you may have. You are also given a counsellor who is there if you ever have any questions or issues and they are extremely helpful at getting you involved in the specific line of work that you wish to gain experience in. Everyone is also part of a 'family tree' which consists of a person from each level within the business. This gives you the opportunity to voice any concerns to a more senior member of the business.

The benefits received from EY are really good and there are many different ones to suit your individual lifestyle and needs. The pay is very good for an apprenticeship and is enough to over daily costs, however living in London still means that there isn't a great deal of money left after rent to spend on anything else. However the salary is really competitive and a lot better than most other apprenticeship salaries.

There are loads of opportunities outside of work! Whether this be helping out at careers fairs, joining one of the many networks or becoming part of one of EY's sport teams, there really is something for everyone and it is fantastic to have all of these opportunities available at no cost.

Yes

The fact that you can become a fully qualified chartered accountant without going to university and whilst earning a salary and gaining loads of experience is one of the main reasons I would recommend the programme. Also EY boasts and friendly and supportive working environment and I am yet to meet someone to say they don't enjoy being a part of EY.

For anyone that wishes to apply I would recommend that they do lots of interview preparation and practice lots of psychometric tests that are readily available online. I would also suggest becoming very familiar with the EY website and all of our key strategies and aims. Also staying up to date with current news and affairs is very important and is an easy way to impress in an interview !