Associate Review

I am an Assurance Associate on the Graduate Programme in my first year. On the programmes, we spend the majority of our time out at client site working closely with them to understand their business on a daily basis. This can involve understanding the controls they have in place to observing inventory counts, we see almost every part of the business.

During my team at EY I have learned many new skills. I have had extensive training on computers and excel, as well as things such as people skills since I have had to speak with clients, and time management skills to try and get work finished on time for managers.

I was really nervous on my first day, having come from a non-accounting degree I didn’t know what to expect. I was really worried everything would go over my head, which 90% of it did. We have a really strong coaching culture at EY though and there is always someone there to answer your questions. Despite being pretty lost, everyone was really welcoming and didn’t mind having to explain things more than once, I soon settled in. I was surprised by how young the Aberdeen office is and nothing like the typical stereotypes surrounding accountancy.

you slowly get more responsibility as you get more comfortable working with clients. I am most looking forward to continuing to understand and develop my knowledge of audit and the Oil and Gas sector. EY is such a global company, they have offices almost everywhere. Since joining in September people from my office have already relocated to other EY offices in different countries.

When you start at EY you get both a buddy and a counsellor. Your buddy is there to help you transition into the company comfortably and to answer any questions you may have. I would say use your mentor, a lot! I asked mine a lot of questions before I even started! Your counsellor is someone who is there to support you on more of a professional level and to make sure you are developing in your role – again these are extremely approachable and can offer you advice/guidance if you need it!

It's similar to having a buddy, our teachers when working towards our exams and stuff were very helpful, they allowed us all to email them if we had any questions and to come in after hours for some extra help if needed, and people at work are always there to help.

A lot of the exam information does help a lot with the actual work, as it all relates closely to it. Our PAR exam is all the basics of auditing so the information from that gives us a background on what we are actually doing in our day to day job.

My year group has been really good with this, from the first day we all really got on. We’ve organised to have events throughout the weekends, whether that be a Pot-Luck dinner, going out for food, or having a night out after our first pay. I think it’s been really helpful that we’ve all been so close, it can sometimes be a bit daunting being in a new job in general and having your peers there alongside you has been a good support throughout work and study.

Yes

I think its such a great opportunity for someone like me rather than going to uni and getting into debt, you can work, gain a qualification and get paid while you do it all which is amazing, as well as getting so much experience at the same time with different clients

My best advice would be to reach out and talk to someone, attend an information/careers event and research the careers page before you join. The school leaver role at EY is fast pacing, and sometimes can be demanding, but it is worth it. Getting an insight into the role and speaking to someone who is doing it or has done it will be beneficial. Also, definitely don’t be put off because you don’t have a background in accounting/finance – if you have the interest there and you think it’s something you want to do then go for it! By simply just having the motivation to do it will definitely help you!