Audit Associate Review

My job title is currently a Banking and Capital Markets Assurance Associate also known as an Associate Auditor. My role as an auditor described on a very high-level basis to assess and provide an overall audit opinion on the financial statements of a firm, providing assurance to the stakeholders and shareholders of my clients that the financial statements are fairly stated. I interact with clients on a daily basis, it is a very important part of completing tasks which have been assigned to me, my clients tend to be those based within the finance department of a firm, this may be accounting professionals or even the CFO. On a day to day basis I typically test the controls of a firm to assure that they a functioning sufficiently and I will also test balances within their 'Trial Balance'.

The qualification I am working towards is ACA, the ACA has taught me several skills so far which also apply to my role as an Auditor, my job and the training I do both work hand in hand which is very useful. I have learnt so many skills mainly the use of excel, I am not the best at Excel at the moment however I know quite a few shortcuts which may impress some. What have I learnt? - Accounting - Auditing - Excel Skills - Communicational Skills And plenty more.

I very much so do enjoy the programme I am currently in, it is completely the opposite of what I had initially expected when beginning the role, the friendly nature and culture of the firm has truly surprised me and continues to do so.

I feel very valued by the people who I work with directly however when compared to an entire year group consisting of many individuals the level of value tends to drop however this is expected when there is so much competition and not everyone can be assessed on an individual basis.

The programmes I very well organised and structured, those who are part of the organisation seem to have everything in place, from day 1. I never usually have to ask additional questions as everything seems to already be answered from the get-go this applies to both on-the-job training and internal support. Although we do have a support network known as the 'Counselling Family Tree' which I believe could use a lot more work on, it is a network which I myself do not completely understand and I don't think anyone does, we are supposed to meet on a quarterly basis however this rarely takes place.

My training provider is always there for me when I need, although I do have several tutors who I tend to forget about after college is over I know they I still there. I enjoy training as I treat it as a break from work although it is very hard-work.

I have always had someone there whenever I needed support. This support has been received from my counsellor, buddy and friends which I have made at the firm since the date I started working at EY.

My Salary package meets all of my costs as a 20yr old however for the work I am doing it would be ideal if it was a bit higher and the gap between the Graduates and School Leavers needs to be smaller considering we are doing the exact same job.

There are many out of work opportunities for example I am currently a part of a team of 6 in a BeyondMe Team. Our team name is known is "BeyondEY". The Charity which we are providing pro-bono professional advise to is known as ArtsAdmin a Café which caters to Theatre creatives. The charity currently suffers from lack of customers, controls and management motivation, they believe our help will be the kick start needed to turn this around which has proved to be correct so far. The Cafe have recently hired a Head of Marketing and Development which we suggested and who has so far brought more light to the Charity, they have begun making plans for future events which we have been invited to and will attend for example their Christmas Party/Raffle and a Valentines Day "Pub Quiz", We have built a very strong rapport with the management and also aim to maintain our relationship once the project is finished in March 2018, as well as all of this we also fundraise for the charity out of our own pockets. My high level position within the team is the rejuvenation of the Menu, the core of the cafe, I specifically chose this role as it is one of the main reasons behind the failure of the charity and it was a challenge I am more than ready to take on.

Yes

I would recommend EY to a friend as EY has given me more than just a career and an income, it has given me friends which I intend on staying friends with for as long as I know. EY has given me opportunities I could not have dreamed of such as featuring in the Times Magazine. I have been able to meet so many people during my time at EY and I would not change a thing.

Take things easy. The most important culture at EY is to be yourself, be the friendly and confident person you are. Don't approach any of the recruitment procedures with the mind set that you are going to be competing with people. EY hires based on strengths so show off these strengths no matter what they may be.