Trainee Review

On a daily basis my role primerily specialises within the private client tax department, so entails dealing with personal taxation computations, tax advice, and dealing with clients from telehone and email correspondace. I also deal with HMRC to resolve queries and to provide relevent information to the revenue as well as to our clients.

I have learnt a variety of new skills mainly including working on various industry recognised software packages in order to calculate the relevent tax (whether income, capital gains etc) as well as working on internal systems such as our CRM database and our time management system which is responsible for keeping track of our time for internal systems as well as for billing.

I enjoy the programme very much, the department is very friendly and I have made lots of friends here. The atmosphere is very conversational and a good laugh all in. I also enjoy the work aspect as my background very much compliments the work I do on a daily basis from personal businesses etc.

Very good on the whole, the business organises all of the exams etc in good time which is good to help make things easier. One negative was for one of my exams so far, we only had access to the study material 8 days in advance which made learning all the content in that time frame challenging however it was a welcomed challenge!

ALOT! Everyone in the department are so approachable if you have any questions regarding your day to day job as well as your qualification. Being a large company there are also lots of people who have taken the same exams recently which is very useful for advice and to go over any challenges.

So far on the whole it has been very good support, we have regular progress calls with a representative and your line manager to track your progress and set regular targets which breaks down the apprentiship very well. They also provide skills days which are fun as you are with a similar age peer group but likewise useful for the course.

Alot! Nowadays most of the computations are done electronically, however having a strong understanding makes the role alot easier and it also allows you to advice on where clients may be able to make a tax saving etc. Also the skills days help to develop how you communicate with all parties which is very useful.

We have a yearly football competition (5-a-side) every summer for the weekend where our travel and hotel is paid for in Bristol and expenced alchohol on the first night which is great! Its also a great opportunity to meet collegues you may not talk to on a day to day basis. We also have regular social events after work which is good fun despite the price of a pint in London!

Yes

The experience I have had has been very welcoming and although the time has flown by, I have learnt so much and would say I am defiantly more tasked for the rest of my career in this sector. The company, the people, everything is great and like mentioned previously the social aspect is a massive bonus too.

Always be yourself, my interview was very conversational and not really a grilling which I embrace but it was a nice change! Make sure of course as with any application process that you do ALOT of research on the role, job description, the industry and challenges which it may be facing- even if your not asked about challenges they are a great conversation starter if you can ask about how the business is dealing with a challenge which the industry currently faces (e.g. MTD for VAT, or the growth of online accountancy packages for accountancy)