Trainee Tax Advisor Review

I am involved in tax advice regarding Withholding Taxes for FS companies, AOEI reporting, the upcoming MDR reporting and governance set up, ISA HMRC compliance, so I typically am working on 5+ different projects a day which means I have good variety in my work. I rarely have to do admin tasks such as printing.

Definitely, it was somewhat of a steep learning curve when I joined, but my team was extremely helpful with getting me up to speed as fast as possible. We get access to Udemy and a vast amount of internal training resources, from which I have chosen to complete an EY Badge to further my knowledge in the Banking and Capital Markets area.

Much more than I expected to! My team are all lovely and good to work with, and we are a small team, so that makes it easier I think to get along with everyone. I didn't expect to find Tax as interesting as it is. The company culture is also great, I have never felt any issue being a woman in the firm.

My induction was kind of lacking in Tax specifically, as EY only took on 4 apprentices in total nothing formal happened so we were a bit lost at first. Studying wise, I didn't really like how we had a week of college at the start, 7 month break, and then we carry on study right before the exam, but that is more personal taste. My counsellor (manager designated to support me) has been super useful.

Managers are always very helpful when there is a problem or I have a more complex query that I can't ask another lower level in the team. HR I have barely interacted with, but they did mess up several things when I joined which I am still fixing, which is frustrating.

A lot, Kaplan has a great amount of online resources available to us since our first week of college. They also have an easy way to chat/call with tutors during hours of the day to go through any queries/questions we may have on how to get to a certain solution.

Helps me build the base technical knowledge that I need to understand the more complex concepts I am coming across every day in my team. So far, we have only done the basics of accounting module, so it is not super helpful for my work in Tax haha, but still the basic understanding has helped.

They have a great deal of sports teams, womens group, lgbtq+ group, ethnic/religious groups etc. which are all readily available to join. The office in CP regularly has events held there on many different topics, and you are always welcome to come along. If you can't go in person, it is also often broadcast as a webcast.

Yes

It actually has a very pleasant working environment, nearly everyone I've come across has been very open and friendly and most importantly eager to help you learn. The company culture appears modern, very few of the old stereotypes of the old boys club are left, and it encourages you to work on your flaws rather than push you down for them.

Be easy to talk to and friendly. Obviously you need to pass the tests of maths/behavioural etc. but overall you need to be pleasant to talk to I think. We are very client facing in tax and from the intake it's clear that they bear that in mind in the application process.