GPS Business Apprentice Review

Day to day I will travel to a client or the EY office and undertake tasks assigned to me by my senior. As I'm new in my role many of the tasks will be new to me and changed from day to day. These things will include tasks such as: Testing, Ticking and Tieing, Conducting walkthroughs, Reviewing contracts etc.

I wouldn't say any I've developed any specific new broadly applicable skills but I have developed a lot of my existing skills such as: Conversation, scheduling/prioritising, mental mathematics and team working. I've picked up many specific job skills quite quickly related to the tasks I have to do.

The programme is quite good for what it is, there's complaints to be had about the combination of education and work which can get a bit overwhelming when you're expected to do both at once. The training provider we're with has been good so far and I don't feel like they're skipping over things.

The programme seems to be quite flexible to account for people failing exams, taking holiday etc. we have quarterly meetings to discuss our progress and how we feel how we're doing. I'm unsure when our exams are meant to be going into the future but it's something I can easily inquire about.

There's support if you need it but most of it requires action on your part. Everyone has a counsellor to talk about development and any issues you may have at the company. Most people at the company have gone through the programme or a similar one so everyone understands the stresses involved and will generally be accommodating and understanding if you have problems.

Kaplan Financial is very good at providing resources, for each exam we are equipped with an integrated study guide, a study manual and an extensive question bank. We also have access to all these materials online as well as hundreds of videos. The teachers and classrooms we have are somewhat mixed however I never felt a teacher was unqualified. Overall I'm happy with what Kaplan do.

Training through Kaplan helps me to understand some of the underlying accounting concepts that affect my work. In helping with specific audit tasks it is perhaps less useful but it's helped me in feeling less lost. I've only done classes for one exam so far so I'm yet to see the full use of what we learn.

The company likes to run month end events and has a 5 a side match every so often. I don't think there's many formal clubs or anything but every so often an office wide email about an interesting event may be sent. Apprentices are also invited to join in at SCASS events with other accounting apprentices though I don't know much about these. I don't feel obligated to attend any of these and can choose when I do.

Yes

I have and would recommend them. They have a competitive starting salary for the industry and especially for school leavers. My office is full of likeminded young people who are easy to work with and talk to. Being a Big 4 Accountancy firms there's plenty of career development opportunities which many of my colleagues have taken. It perhaps may not be best for a qualified accountant though as hours can be long.

I would say to apply to many other places as well as it can be quite competitive. If they ask you to do a talk on a subject or something similar, be prepared and know what you're talking about. Confidence can take you a long way, especially in the group interviews as many of the other interviewees will be young and nervous.