Associate Review

My role is to provide bookkeeping services for our clients and assist with preparation of monthly management accounts. I highlight any points to note in the month and send this to a manager or director to review. Once work has been reviewed it is then sent to the client. Also I am responsible for providing training to clients on the accounting software Xero.

Over the year I have had the opportunity to develop my presentation skills. This was something I wasn't that confident with previously and I was able to attend a workshop and also present at a school to two classes. This was a great way to boost my confidence in presenting.

I've liked the fact that we are given 20% off the job training time. It is sometimes difficult to balance work, studying and apprenticeship requirements but having the days off for college helped. Also the skills and development days that were run at the college were always interesting and good fun.

Generally everything was very organised and dates were set in my calendar for my whole course right from the start. This allowed me to see what I was doing and enabled me to plan my work loads around college and apprenticeship days. The EPA was slightly less organised and it took a while for my professional discussion to be booked.

My employer has provided me with great support over the year. As well as giving us time off for college and skills days, I was also given time where required to update my portfolio. In particular, my manager was very supportive and was always looking for things for me to get involved in to increase my experience.

College have been great. The college tutors are always so supportive and you can email them anytime for advice on exams. The skills and development coaches are also very enthusiastic and really push you on the skills days to perform, as well as having a real focus on producing a great portfolio.

It has helped me to think about and develop the extra skills you need in the workplace, such as working in a team and project management. However these skills are generally put in to practice when working day to day so a lot of it comes naturally. There was a presentation skills day that was great in helping me perform better in the presentation that I did as mentioned in my previous answer.

There is a weekly work football 5-a-side match played in Reading that people can get involved with. Also I have joined the Thames Valley Young Professionals networking group who host events usually once a quarter and is a great chance to get out and meet other like-minded individuals in different industries.

Yes

It's just a great professional environment to work in. Everyone is very friendly and approachable and there is always support available. There is a real focus for career development and there are always opportunities to get involved in lots of different projects and to work with a variety of clients in a number of sectors.

If you are serious about a career in accountancy then I would recommend applying here. There are so many different areas in accounting that you can work in and there will always be opportunities in a big firm such as BDO. If you put the effort in you will be rewarded.