KPMG360 Technician Audit Apprentice Review

I am a KPMG360 Technician Apprentice who has specified with Audit. I work all over London, with teams of 2 people up to teams of 15 people. Working with all different clients on their Audits. Daily I am working on different client audits. Specifically working on all areas of the audit for the TOD's TOE's and Analytical work.

In my first year I worked towards my level 3 AAT qualification, and achieved this. I am currently a quarter of my way through the level 4 AAT qualification, and have around a year and a half left to complete. I have also had internal Audit training, which prepares me for the day to day testing that I may come to face, when working with Audit. As well as general training throughout my time within the firm, helping me work towards my professional and personal development.

The work has exceeded what my expectations were. I wasn't expecting to come in and get thrown in the deep end, but I was. The team I work within are truly amazing, and I couldn't ask for a better department to specialise in. The company culture is very different from what my initial thoughts were, of the company. We are a very diverse and inclusive company, which makes it a lot better for the working environment.

KPMG is a very large firm, so it is quite hard to get recognised. However, on a programme basis, it's a lot easier to get your name known. In the day to day work, the recognition is very good, therefore the internal recognition is okay. But the external recognition isn't as good for lower down in the company. If you were high up, say partner and director level, you would have a good external recognition. Therefore at my level, there is rarely any of that. Involvement within tasks and projects, I feel that I am valued quite a bit. This is because I would have individual tasks that I need to work on and have, therefore I have responsibility and are involved within all engagements.

The induction and training of the programme, was quite well thought, and I think it was put together well. Due to the programme being in it's first 2 years, there are some tweaking that is still going on, and some tweaking that needs to happen so that the programme gets to the best possible outcome possible. Studying is undertaken by an external resourcing team, and they are okay, but there are some flaws here also.

There is a lot of support that we can get from our training provider. However, it depends on the individual as to whether they want to access this support. If you do not ask for help or guidance, then the tutors and advisors aren't going to give you any. They are willing to help us out, and inform us that this is the case more than a few times. However, sometimes it does take a while for the team to get back to you on your queries, which isn't good some times.

The programme management team are supportive with everything. This goes the same for the department management and team around me. They are available to help the majority of the time, within reason. The management team are only a call away whenever need be, and they will always try their best to help you solve your problem as quickly and most efficiently as possible.

I am fortunate to still be living at home, none the less, it is still quite difficult to manage my costs with the salary that I am on. Monthly my overall costs do not out weigh my monthly wage. However, this does not apply to each and every month. Some months I am able to live comfortably, but other months I might just scrape through. I feel that if I was to live closer to my work place, I would not be able to survive on my salary, hence why I still live in my local area.

There are so many opportunities outside of work. KPMG have a specialised team that work with involving their employees to get involved in anything other than work. There are company events and activities that take place monthly, and we are encouraged to get involved where ever we can. There is also a team dedicated to volunteering and community events. There is no lack of outside of work opportunities within KPMG. A lot of the events I attend, is promoting the programme that I am a part of, so that other people have the chance to see and understand what KPMG have to offer.

Yes

I would only recommend KPMG to a friend, if I knew their intentions were true, and that they clearly wanted a job with the firm. Other than that, I probably wouldn't recommend KPMG to anyone.

Be yourself - don't worry about what people think about you, purely because KPMG want to employee you as a person, and not just what you have on your CV. Sure your grades and experience count to a certain extent, but if you cannot meet our values and objectives as a firm, it doesn't matter.