Apprentice Review

As part of my apprenticeship, I rotate around the firm completing 6-9 months in each placement. So far I have completed two placements in Audit (Banking and Public sector) and 3 placements in Tax (Corporate and People services). I am currently in a placement in People services with a team called the Employment Solutions technology. Day to day role involves testing software, taking client queries and project managing.

Since the start of my apprenticeship to now I have developed a great sense of attention to detail in my work which means that there is less re work needing to be done to any tasks I complete. I have also now began actively taking ownership of my own progression so if there is a skill I want to develop I ask my managers to provide me with work to enable me to do this.

The programme is a dream come true for me as I am working for one of the top firms in the UK, and pursuing my career choice which I have had since a young age which is to become and accountant. There are some elements which is challenging and that is completing exams.

There are two elements to this, one is work structure and the other is exam structure. I believe the work structure is set out really well, we are able to gain great skills and develop in each placement. However I believe that exams can be set out better. For example I am currently completing Level 4 AAT. As part of level 4, I am required to complete a synoptic assessment which involves 4 of the modules I have already completed. However two of the modules which will come up are exams I complete a year ago and in between I have been doing different exams. I believe it would be better to do the core modules and synoptic exam in line with each other and i don't mean by doing two exams in one day. I mean by spacing it out so I'm revising for one exam at a time and completing the modules so then by the time synoptic comes it will be easier to remember what i done.

We receive a great level of support from KPMG. Whether its a personal issue, work issue or an exam issue, KPMG will always support us. Two examples I can give where I am currently receiving support is my religious commitments. It is the month of Ramadan and due to night prayers I usually go to sleep at 4 am. I also had my personal tax exam during Ramadan. To support me for my religious commitments I have agreed adjusted working hours with my team so I get sufficient sleep and my exam has been deferred to a later date.

BPP do support us during our exams for example they check in on us throughout our revision to see if we need help on anything and they also provide us with a dedicated forum page to share our questions. However I believe that the question practice which BPP provide could be more similar to the AAT style questions so when we go into the exam we are familiar with the layout of the exams.

My external auditing exam really helped me during my time in audit. During audit, due to tight deadlines, i did not really have the time to fully understand the concept of auditing however the exam really gave me a better understanding of the different procedures of audit and really enabled me to do my job better.

KPMG has many different extra curricular activities. There are different societies which you can be part of such as Islamic society, Jewish society, Womens society and many more. Some teams organise weekly sports games such as football and there is also a gym on the ground floor for staff to use.

Yes

I had the choice of going to university to become an accountant which would have been the normal route. I was unsure at first if i had made the right decision of doing an apprenticeship however being here for 3 years now i can say without a doubt that it was the best choice i ever made.

Do your research before applying to make sure this is the right choice for you. Take advantages of career fairs and any open days which KPMG might hold so you can get first hand advice from employees themselves. Research the KPMG values and see how you can apply yourself to these values.