Assistant Tax Advisor Review

Up until month six I'd say was mainly spent printing and completing admin related tasks. But in the background there'd be an interesting job here and there where you'd gain some valuable insight and experience. Going forward, the next few months would see a junior understanding work jargon a lot better and start to put pieces together whilst maybe helping on some technical aspects of the job. I would be supporting a L2 (qualified accountant) directly on a clients account, maybe managing the billing process, and helping to complete the simpler aspects of the advisory work. The L2 would then give pointers on how to improve the work and amend it. It would then get handed off to a Manager/Senior Manager for a review and any amendments and finally it would be reviewed by the Partner and signed off to be delivered to the client.

It takes many years to learn all the aspects you need to in order to complete your job, so the Big4 is definitely a very challenging and rewarding place to work. I feel the school leaver route is a much better place to start in terms of achieving life goals in a shorter span of time.

It's a lot of pressure, but if you know you want to jump into the world of work, this is the best thing you could go for. I don't think of this program as a 'usual' apprenticeship which is usually a dead-end job. In fact, I don't see it as an apprenticeship at all, it's a proper job. I'm treated no differently to any graduate and the work gets more interesting as time goes on.

in the background there'd be an interesting job here and there where you'd gain some valuable insight and experience. This is where EY could have done better I believe, and taken the juniors out to client meeting more often and involve us (and explain) the technical side of the clients problem in layman's terms to begin with. I think that would really help junior development across the board and lay a great foundation for growth, rather than mainly completing tedious admin related tasks.

I receive plenty of support from EY. I had a buddy when I started to show me the ropes, then a counselor which I catchup with on a frequent basis. A counselor is great because what you say will be confidential, you can talk about work or non-work related issues, ask for more opportunities and discuss any concerns you have. There's also the wider team in general who you can go to and also a dedicated apprenticeship support person to go to with any issues.

Kaplan has a wide variety of tutorials, in-class assistance and online assistance to help you through your ACA professional qualification. It's definitely tough, especially whilst working alongside it, but it's well worth it and you'll be an accredited professional at the end of it with high career and salary prospects. I enjoy Kaplan's 'MyKaplan' website, as it's structured simply and is easy to navigate and the content is also created in-house which is understandable.

Going through the ACA qualification has been invaluable to my career development, you understand so much more of what's going on in the office when you undertake the professional qualification. You'll start to understand all aspects of Financial Accounting, Management Accounting, aspects of Law and Business Finance etc. So it's definitely a crucial part of my development.

Yes, there are extra-curricular activities fairly frequently. Actually, speaking of that, just today most the team have gone to the Cheltenham races! We also have occasional team lunches (paid for by EY), social nights, and there's also a Winter Ball. There's also BCASS events across the year which is for people across the country who are doing the ACA, and you also get two CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) days a year to take away from work doing charitable activities.

Yes

Many juniors start their career wanting to become Partner, and rightly so. The prestige and monetary compensation for achieving such a high status is unrivalled in the industry, and Big4 is definitely the place you want to be if you have high ambitions. Most 'Partner' quality people make the grade after around 15 years in their role from graduate/school leaver, some less, in 10 years, and some take longer. But once you're there you can proudly say you own a piece of the pie and have earned it on merit. Also a nice extra point is the average Partner profit split is just under £700,000 (per year) in 2018, not too bad at all. It takes a lot of effort and determination to make the grade, but if you have the horsepower to make it there, you will be respected and rewarded for making the grade. So if you're driven to work in financial services, are mature enough to jump into the real world directly after college (I started later at 21 years old) and want great salary prospects in the future with a decent work/life balance, then this could definitely be for you.

Be yourself. That's the main advice I'd give throughout the recruitment process. I was so worried going throughout it, but I think if you can pass the initial tests (you can do it!) then it's all down to your personality and how much of a 'good' person you are. In the assessment center, socialize with your colleagues on the day, listen to what others have to say but also have your own opinions and ideas and take it all on-board.