Apprentice, Audit Review

My job title is apprentice trainee in audit. On a daily basis I am responsible for testing the accounts of our clients in the banking sector. We conduct various tests to verify that the figures are correct. I interact with the client frequently and constantly with my colleagues.

I'm currently doing level 4 AAT which gave me an overall knowledge about accounting. I have also done various internal training for example a 3 day audit training that compresses everything you need to know to conduct an audit. I also use pluralsight in my spare time to learn new skills.

I enjoy the work that I do although sometimes there's a lot of pressure on you and the deadlines can be tight. My team is very friendly and supportive and exhibit a true team spirit. I also fit in very well within the company culture of being supportive.

I feel overall valued however sometimes I feel like being an apprentice means that you're inferior to other people such as graduates although I often have more experience than them. I do get to get involved in projects that I am interested in though.

I feel like there is a very clear structure in terms of how the apprenticeship is organised, we had 1 week induction before starting and many training to complete before we started real work, we have a delegated team who dial with issues related to studies and have regular meeting with our managers and mentors

I do not feel like our training provider is as involved and we are also told to get in touch with our facilitator before asking the training provider directly. I only contacted my tutor a few times over email. I don't feel very supported by them overall.

I feel like my employer ensure I get all the support I need as we have managers, line managers, mentors and performance leads with each one playing a different role in your career development, they all are very approachable and easy to contact

The salary is calculated unfairly as I often have my knowledge and experience than graduates who just come in and get way more that apprentices. At the beginning I was earning around minimum wage if divided up so it was really tough to be able to pay rent. It has now gone up but I still struggle sometimes and have a bunch of loans.

I have not been involvedmuch in outside of work opportunities however I know that we have a delegated team that deal with that. I do feel like they are not advertised very well. There are a lot drinks but those mainly only include our colleagues and the wider firm.

Yes

Despite the salary struggles it is a good name to have on your cv and the training is good so you can learn stuff. Once you get rid of the "apprentice" in your title hopefully people would treat you equally and you would be at the same salary as your peers.

Do extensive research on what kind of work you would like to do so that you don't end up in a department where you hate the work as it'd be difficult to relocate once you started. Also, don't get loans as it will just be a struggle to pay them off later.