Trainee Associate Review

Start the job as a trainee associate. Daily tasks can vary a lot, from interim work such as walkthroughs and test of controls, with lots of interaction with the client to find out more about their procedures, to year end work, which involves more tieing numbers through and reviewing evidence. Lots of help with second years and seniors who are more than willing to sit down and explain how to do the job and answer all of your questions. Go to college every few months to sit one of the exams towards your ACA.

Developed a lot of skills through both internal training courses and web-based courses, plus studying for your ACA. Such as general audit knowledge, team work skills, accounting knowledge.

The work is generally enjoyable and you learn a lot. There's a very friendly environment and even if your team isn't for you, you switch clients every few months and can speak to your counsellor about which teams you would / wouldn't like to stay on. There are team drinks, coffee runs and birthday cakes to keep everyone motivated.

EY make you feel very valued. We have 90-day cycles in which your chosen feedback providers comment on how well you performed over the cycle. Management are keen to tell you what you did right, and let you know of any mistakes you make in time so that you don't make them again without realising, and everyone is very understanding as they were here at some point. Last month I received an impact award for promoting EYs values, as did some of the other associates, which makes you feel valued. Most people make sure to thank you for the work that you do, and although I've only been here for 6 months, partners and senior managers have made sure to include me when addressing the team in meetings and looking for opinions.

There is an online system where you can see what you're booked to do up to a year in advance, so you are well updated on any training, college, exam dates, and which client you are going to be working with. You can see the team hierarchy easily online and find out who you will be working with. You have a counsellor who works with you on your goals for the next 3 months and ensuring that you are happy with the client you are working on and your team, so any issues can easily be resolved. You are not allowed to book holiday between January and April though, which would have been useful to know before starting.

During my time at college (one week in September) our tutor was very helpful, he provided us with his email address and let us know that if we had any questions we were more than welcome to come up and ask in our breaks or after college.

Lots of support in both work and study. When you've got exams coming up, managers always let you leave at 5pm to study as long as you let them know. If you have any questions, people always make time to answer them. You get allocated a counsellor to help you with any problems you might have, and if you and your counsellor aren't a good fit, you can easily switch to another one. The HR team and IT team are easy to contact and often solve your issues quickly, with the IT team also being available to instant message.

I live at home with my parents this year, so £21,500 goes quite far in covering my travel into work, food, car insurance and social life. However, I know people who are currently renting and they struggle more. When looking into moving out, I have had to put it off until next year as I can't afford it at the moment, however, being a school leaver and living near to London, this isn't much of an issue for me.

We have loads of Networks, including the Womens Network, there are always advertisements for exercise classes being held, such as pilates. EY lets you take two days a year to do voluntary work for EY Foundation. There is availability to go to schools and careers fairs to help out for the day instead of coming into the office. EY is quite big on arranging socials, whether its with the entire office or between teams.

Yes

Good place to work for, everyone is willing to teach you, I've learnt a lot while working here and the people are really nice

Do it! Especially as a school leaver, you study for your ACA which is a degree level qualification (our Apprenticeships are level 7 which is the equivalent of a masters) with no debt, plus lots of work experience and you're getting paid to do it. One thing I would've liked to know, however, is that the 25 days of study leave advertised are actually just college days, so the only days off you have are weekends unless you choose to use your holiday allowance to study.