Assurance Associate Review

Assurance Associate. This involves helping those above me to complete their tasks and now that I've got a bit of experience I'm put in charge of accounts and pieces of work on larger clients. I tend to sit near/ next to the people that I'm working with in order to make sure it's easy to ask any questions I have. Often when it comes to communication with a client there will be email correspondence followed by a phone call or face to face meetings in order to discuss anything I've requested. Most of my work is done in excel or within the audit tool we use and it all tends to be a lot more based on writing and reasoning than just maths.

I'm on my way to Chartered Accountant with ICAEW, with opportunity for resits wherever necessary. I've definitely got much better at using excel, I can do most things in there without even touching my mouse and can do it very quickly - something also probably helped by how much better I've got at typing. My time management is a key thing that's improved, I get given a lot of work and some of them have very short time limits to be completed, meaning that I have to balance what needs to be done and what can take a bit longer. At first it was like a jump in the deep end but now I can comfortably deal with most of it. I'm also better at writing emails and just talking to people comfortably with no prior introduction, helping me to grow in confidence both inside and outside of work.

I think that with the sort of hours and work we do it is very much more the team you work with that decides on your experience for that period of time. The people I work with all help very well and help with every opportunity to help you grow. The culture is very good in terms of how it cares for the people, how open and diverse it is etc.. however the worklife balance from January to April is basically non-existent and although I was anticipating bad hours I was not expecting them to be this bad. The work itself can vary widely from being very interesting to incredibly mind-numbing.

I think now that I've grown in to my teams I can tell that I am very valued. This is especially relevant as I already have tiny bits of experience with the client or the work I was performing that noone else does and so although it would be relatively straightforward to replace me it would be difficult for the next person to pick it all up quickly and easily. EY are paying for my ACA and so they obviously value me there - they also take us out for drinks and have socials very often which make you feel more appreciated. The feedback system used is often a place where those above me voice their appreciation for the effort I've put in across the engagement and they often praise everything you've done well. The only real negative here would be the hours you are expected to work.

In terms of the exams we sit this is very clear from ICAEW and we know well in advance when our exams will be and when we'll have training. There is a clear path of our progression within the company as part of the programme and the opportunities that are there for us once the programme has been completed. We are also a large cohort with people in the years ahead of us providing support. It is also clear what is expected of us in terms of the roles we will have to perform and in terms of who to go to if we need help.

Our training provider is a college that will run us through everything we have to do an exam on if we have college study. They are easy to contact if we have any questions and have mock papers which we can attempt in order to see where we stand for the exam. We had a relatively high pass rate in exams so they must be doing something well.

We immediately have a "Counsellor" who we are supposed to go to with any problems we have at work - so if we want to change client or stop working with certain people, struggling with exams etc they are there to help. There is also "Health EY" for if we have any health problems during the programme to help us as well as webinairs with tips on how to make sure we deal with any stress properly. Especially working in a team if someone is stuck it slows everyone so everyone helps push you through.

Although my salary is about average for someone doing my job it does not cover costs massively - if I had to live away from home I would struggle to pay rent and cover food costs. When you consider how many hours I work it really does not seem like a fair wage, however they are paying for me to sit my exams so I can't really complain. However, when you go out on a social drinks will be paid for by the company so it isn't terrible.

In terms of company events. We have a big social every summer and winter which everyone goes to and food and drinks are provided all night as well as music and stuff like that. There are plenty of opportunities to attend talks and discussions as well as to join networks for many different things. We are also allowed to take two days off per year in order to volunteer for a charity or something similar. We have sports teams as well as a lot of chances to care for people lower down in the company once we start to progress.

Yes

I think just given the type of experience it gives you to help with whatever career you end up in, whether you stay at the firm or move to a different industry entirely it will definitely help you to do the work you need to do. It also helps you to meet lots of new people.

Be confident in interviews and assessment days. There were so many people who seemed smart and capable and but were too nervous so it didn't show through. Make sure you've properly researched the role so that you can talk about it at all stages and make references to the company and the role at all times.