Assistant Tax Advisor Review

My job title is 'Assistant Tax Advisor' and involves helping our clients navigate through the international tax framework. Daily tasks can include working through the firm's client and engagement acceptance procedures, keeping the team updated on costs for the all of the running engagements that I'm involved in, and drafting technical deliverables for our clients.

During my apprenticeship I will working towards qualifying as a Chartered Accountant which, so far, has taught me many new skills on a technical level. EY also offers regular internal training courses specifically for tax. On a non-technical level I have learned how to use Microsoft office to a proficient level.

I have very much enjoyed my time on the programme to date. I find the work to be interesting, my team is friendly and the firm has a great people culture which encourages learning and development across all levels of seniority. The programme is exactly what I expected and I haven't been so disappointed.

As an employee I do feel valued by EY as a collective because of the excellent benefits, training and flexible working that's offered to all employees. I also feel valued, to a lesser extent, within my team. I feel that there is still somewhat of a stigma associated with being a school leaver and that this can be reflected in how some of the team sometimes underestimate what I can do. However, with more the open-minded members of the team I feel highly valued and utilised to the best of my abilities.

The induction when I first joined the team was both helpful and very detailed. I was assigned a buddy when I first joined and every employee gets a 'counsellor' to discuss their career goals at EY. In regards to the ACA (Association of Chartered Accountants) training, I feel that it could be structured better so that it is more in line with the graduate scheme. The period of time over which the school leavers complete their exams, five years, is too long when compared to the graduate scheme (3 years) and this can result in some individuals being held back from progressing through the firm.

The level of support I receive from my training provider, Kaplan, is good. I have ready access to my tutors and training materials are provided in a format that's easy to digest. I also enjoy my time when out in college. However, Kaplan does have some acute operational problems. Students not getting study materials on time, emails being to sent to the wrong people etc.

My counsellor and the managers within my team are usually quite supportive from a developmental perspective. However, it is not always easy to maintain a healthy work / life balance and not every manager is sympathetic to this. The professional qualifications team at EY is also poor, both in terms of the time it takes to get responses to queries and the quality of those responses.

My salary is adequately able to meet my costs, as I currently live at home and commute to work from outside of London. However, I do not earn enough to rent and the pay gap between a school leaver and a graduate is wide, and arguably illogical. A school leaver on their second year who has completed 6 exams will still be earning less than a graduate on their first day who has not completed any ACA exams and has no practical work experience.

Yes EY supports a number of networks and societies, classes and events which provide the opportunity to learn new skills or network with colleagues from different parts of the organisation. EY also co-ordinates with other organisations to facilitate charity events. As an employee of EY I am also able to benefit from discounts and free entrance to a number of venues.

Yes

For all of the positive points that I have listed above. Mainly that working for EY provides many opportunities to learn and develop highly transferrable skills and build relationships within the industry.

Be open and honest about yourself during the application and interview process. Research EY, including the firm's 2020 vision and the thinking behind its 'building a better working world' initiative. I would also recommend keeping up to date with financial / business developments in the news as well as political developments such as Brexit.