Audit Trainee Review

I am employed as an audit trainee, my daily tasks are to assit seniorswith audit fieldwork although recently I have been working without seniors which I am finding very challenging. The interactions depend on the job I have usually enjoyed the work I have been completing as it is helpful to be working with others who are willing to help. This is how I feel I learn the most. Being on site greatly increases client interaction which I enjoy. For the last few months I have been wirking from the office, without a senior to assist and I really miss having someone on hand to help. I feel that this particular job is too much reponsibility for someone of my grade. Although the jobs I have worked on prior to this I have always felt responsible for my own work but not wholly responsible for the whole audit due to the seniors presence.

1 year in the main skills I have developed are professional and personal skills. You are definitely thrown in at the deep end with client interaction and time management. There is a high level of repsonisbility from day 1 whichat times can be daunting but looking back over the year I feel I have really developed my confidence through this course. I have completed various internal training courses in the last year which have helped me to further understand audit work. Externally the apprenticehip qualification has enabled me to document what I have been learning on the job and the CFAB exams have provided me with techincal knowledge

Very depended on what jobs you work on, I have found the majority of managers and seniors great to work with and have enjoyed the work I do but it does depend on the jobs you are assigned to work on. Sometimes the enviroment is very pressured and I feel that too much pressure is put on to work long hours etc.

Feedback from appraisals is good and I do feel valued within work, I am given a lot of responsibility and feel that the work I do is valued.

I have found the programme to date relatively well organised the induction training when I first started was excellent and very useful for the first year of work. The exams have been organised well. However BDO do not seem to be as organised around the apprenticeship element, this is left to the individual and I have found it diffiuclt to explain to managers about the apprentichip and that I will need to take time off for assesor meetings etc. A large problem is that I do not know at all what the strucutre is over the 5 years I have asked this to senior members before, and so has my manager but we have only been provided with a timetable for the next year. I have no idea how the structure will work in the final 3 years, it was in the newspaper i read an article about doing a level 5 apprenticeship; nobody at BDO had communicated this to me!

Support is good, as BBP are always available to answer questions. Could be improved if apprenticeship assesors were more aware of what auditors do and what the BDO expectations are for school leavers as the apprenticeship work/ skills development is at a much lower level than what is expected by BDO.

Always helpful, repond to queries in a timely manner. I think it would be agood idea, especially with the number of people doing the programme now, if there was somebody who looked at the apprenticeship and allinged what is required to complete it to the work we do at BDO. For example there is a unit on 'facilitating and organising workshops and meetings' I am finding this difficult to complete as this is not something we would do in the first 2 years of bdo and usually in these situations have to make up a fake scenario in order to do the unit which seems a bit pointless.

I feel the package generally gives me enough money to live on but compared to my peers it seems low as I am doing exactly the same work as they are but for significantly less. I would like to receive slightly more as nearly all of my money is eaten up by commuting costs and rent in London. I found it especially difficult when I first started as I didnt have any funds to buy workwear/ security deposit on flat and this significantly affected my living costs in the first few months. Another problem has been on away jobs, the nature is to pay for all food etc and then claim this back later howver I cannot ofoot the cost in the first place. It is difficult for people of my age to get credit cards as I have tried unsucessfully. I think a good idea would be to have a work credit card for away trips so I could avoid the embarrasment of not being able to pay for anything. I think the first year salary is fair due to lack of experience but was dissapointed to see that the second year salary is only a very slight increase. I know after 2 years on the programme the salary increase is larger but it would make more sense to have the increase equally weighted in order for me to have a etter quality of life.

Would like more oppurtunites outside work. I think it is difficult to move to a new area and BDO could arrange more apprenticeship events as I only know the people who have started as the same time as me. Would be good to have a mentoring programme with people who are further advanced in the apprenticeship.

Yes

Have learnt so much in the last 12 months, both academic and soft skills required for the business world.

It is a great oppurtunity but definitely not an easy alternative to university. As I went to university for a year I can say that I had a lot more disposable income from student loan and casual work than I do from this job. Which would be fine but I work so hard at BDO so it is definietley not 'easy money'. I would say you haveto be very confident in interacting with others and working in a business environment.