Assistant Manager Review

I work closely with privately owned companies to audit their financial statements, ensuring that they have recorded an accurate financial accounts. For example, this can be making sure that they have not stated that they have received £1million more revenue than they actually have in the year. This involves having daily interaction with clients and holding discussions to understand their business and transactions. As part of the team, I am given my own sections of work to complete to contribute to the team audit of the client that we are working on.

During completion of this programme, I have now received the ACA and am now a chartered accountant. This has given me technical skills that i can apply to my everyday job. There are regular internal training courses to improve soft skills, such as dealing with a client in a stressful situation. The completion of internal training sessions allow me to meet new people with their own experiences.

The other people who work here make working here a lot easier - everyone is so friendly and welcoming, making work a lot easier. The team spirit can improve motivation during busy periods. As you get to see a large variety of clients, the work can be interesting - however, the hours of work can be long and therefore during busy periods, a lot of time is spent at work.

The majority of managers do appreciate your help on their job, with a social usually being organised as a reward for all of the hard work that has gone into the completion of the audit. Managers and partners on a job usually send an email to thank you for your hard work, recognising the value that has been added. As a school leaver, I am treated equally to a graduate and valued for my contribution.

There is a large support system across the whole business who can help you during studying and training sessions, with this increasing the number of people who can help with any issues that you may come across. However, as it is such a large company and there is a central team who can deal with organisation and therefore, there can be some delays in responses.

As you attend Kaplan College for completion of studying for your ACA - for each exam there is a designated tutor who you can contact during all times of your study period who can help with any technical questions that you are struggling with. In my experience, the majority of tutors are happy to give up their own time to help answer any questions that you may have in the build up to sitting the exam.

There is an office wide exam manager who can support us for any queries that we have in relation to exam related queries that we have. There is also a central exam specific HR team who can also assist with any queries, however as this is a central team - they can receive a number of queries, with a significant number of students for them to look after and therefore - there can be some delays in responses.

As working within audit, travel costs are covered as you can claim back your travel expenses as you are rarely in the Deloitte office - therefore, travel expenses are not really of a concern in this job. The salary does meet living costs, as well as allowing an amount to also cover daily and social costs and there are regular salary increases with regular promotion opportunities.

Due to the size of this company, there are a significant number of voluntary events in relation to providing support to the office wide charity, this providing a different day to day activity from work. There are also several sports teams within the office, such as cricket which can allow you to meet new people and participate in activities outside of work.

Yes

Without going to University and getting a degree, Deloitte have allowed me to achieve the same qualifications and achievements as a graduate would and I am treated in the same manner, without the significant university debt. The people who also work at Deloitte are also a great positive of this firm, with everyone being great to work with and willing to help at all points.

During interviews, the best tip would be to just be yourself. The interviewers are not looking to trick you in anyway, just being yourself will give the best representation of you as an applicant. Before completing assessment day and interviews, it is worth researching the job and the business before applying.