KPMG360 Apprentice Review

The higher apprenticeship programme offered by KPMG provides the opportunity to immerse yourself amongst all of KPMG's functions; audit, tax and advisory. Within the daily running of these departments, apprentices assist with tasks such as contacting third parties, drafting letters and official documents and attending client meetings. Once you are more experienced you will also have the opportunity to prepare client deliverables.

Having joined the world of work straight from sixth form, the programme administrators emphasised the importance of developing our professional soft skills during the first year. This helped me adapt to the transition very easily. Furthermore, we have the opportunity to qualify as an AAT accredited accountant, moving up to the professionally chartered qualifications. This is determined by the department that you chose to specialise in after 2 or 3 years of the programme.

I have had the opportunity to work on a number of great projects including: assisting in the management and winding down of a large car dealership that had become insolvent, being part of the audit team for a large UK logistical company and drafting a full VAT disclosure document for one of our largest public sector clients that has been submitted to HMRC. I was unlucky to experience a rotation into a department however that had little client work for me and as such I was not able to further my learning during this placement in any way.

I feel that the culture of KPMG is to take care of its people, as we are the firm's largest asset. Especially now I have chosen to specialise in a certain department, I am fully integrated into the team and I feel very valued as I am viewed as on par with the equally experienced graduate in my department. I have been given equal opportunities of varied work experience as the graduate has too. However, the apprentice cohort on the whole feels that, despite our ability to perform at the same standard as graduates, we are still viewed centrally as 'only apprentices' and this has caused some friction around perception/expectations and salaries.

I was brought into KPMG as part of the first year of the KPMG 360 programme. As such, the programme has been changing throughout the process so far. We understand that we are the initial 'trial' year, however it can be frustrating when we are left in the lurch as a certain aspect of the programme hadn't been finalised yet. However, new recruits should not experience these issues and the initial years of the programme are largely finalised now.

We currently train with a single professional college for all of our AAT exams and I expect this to be the same when we advance to the chartered qualification level. The organisation of these classes are good, with a variety of in-centre (classroom), online forum and pre-recorded tuition methods being used. Personally, I would prefer a larger proportion of classroom tuition, as this provides the greatest support, however the additional methods are practical; especially for young working professionals

We receive 'study leave' in order to complete the classroom or online courses, however we do not receive further days off before the exam in order to revise. As such this has to be done around work in our own time or one can use some of their annual holiday allowance. We do however receive additional leave in order to complete other aspects of our apprenticeship standard.

The cost of living in Bristol is high for a regional city, especially if you want to live in the centre nearer the office to reduce the commute. I have also been lucky in finding a really well valued flat share, so my living costs are roughly halved by this. If I lived somewhere that I paid closer to market value for, then I would struggle to save money from my pay check and also have an enjoyable level of disposable income. This is where being classified as an apprentice, despite equal working standards and experience (speaking as a 2nd year apprentice) compared to a first year graduate, does feel like it lets us down.

There have been a number of work related networking events that I have had the opportunity to attend with my time in different departments. There are also plenty of events held by the management team in order to encourage collaboration between the apprentices across regions and this sees all of the cohort come together in London for skills workshops and general networking. There is also a good Sports and Social committee here in Bristol

Yes

The culture at KPMG is very inclusive to school leavers. The departments are very understanding of your lack of experience and are more than happy to answer your questions at the beginning and throughout a placement. KPMG colleagues are all fantastic colleagues and realise that they were a new starter once too.

KPMG's motto is to 'bring your whole self to work'. This should be at the forefront of your mindset as, not only does it make for a more enjoyable experience of work, it helps KPMG to diversify their thinking processes and thus improve our client offerings. I would add that you will not be holding meetings with Financial Directors of FTSE100 companies from day 1. It is important to stay humble and accept that you're at the bottom of the pile when you begin, then relish the challenge in working your way up.