Assurance Associate Review

Generally my day would start with checking for any emails from my team/client and outstanding tasks and finishing them off. Once I am up to date I will then either continue with the next piece of work and try to help out others with their workloads. I will spend a lot of time pulling data from the clients systems and 'testing' this in our work papers to ensure it is accurate. I will often have catch ups throughout the day with more Senior team members to ensure I am on track.

My time and project management skills have improved greatly as I have been required to juggle many tasks as I take on extra work and responsibility. This has consequently led to my communication skills being greatly enhanced as I have to communicate with both the client and my own team on a daily basis.

I greatly enjoy the programme. The work is varied and one of best aspects of the work culture is the access you are given to the client from very early on. The teams I have worked with have all been extremely supportive and open to any questions I may have since the very start of the programme.

The programme's organisation/ structure has greatly improved since I first joined the company. Particularly in terms of the apprenticeship tasks/ training. The team's organisation levels vary by engagement - however, one of the main aspects of the job is that you determine how organised your own area of work will be due to the great responsibility you are given. The study periods/ college have probably been the least organised aspect, however, whilst the quality of tuition provided has been very good there is not always enough time/ study leave allocated for an exam.

There is easy access to support through mentors/ networks and most team members are on hand to offer advice and answer any questions you may have. I have not had much interaction with HR - however I am aware they are easy to contact for discussions. I would say that overall the culture/ attitude towards supporting one another is very good.

The quality of tutoring we receive from Kaplan is very good and there is easy access to the tutors out of college hours. The only drawback, as previously mentioned, is the time allocated to college/ study leave often not being enough when we need to revise around normal working hours.

The qualification/ exams definitely helps me perform better in my role. The ACA exams are directly related to the kind of work I perform on a daily basis and even those exams, such as Tax, which do not directly link to my role allow me to gain a broader understanding of our clients.

There are a huge number of extra-curricular activities to get involved in at work - the company has a large array of different sports teams and clubs. In addition to this there are many professional networks which are open to anybody to join and have widespread participation. The company also offers day's of leave for you to volunteer on around London or your local area.

Yes

There is a great culture at EY which makes work and its accompanying events very enjoyable. The variety of work which you are given the opportunity to perform is another great benefit to working at EY and the high level of interaction with more senior employees and clients management gives you great exposure which would be hard to gain elsewhere.

I would advise anybody applying to work at EY to research both the service line they apply for and the business as a whole to gain an understanding of how the company operates. This will greatly aid you in any interview processes you go through and allow it to be more conversational and relaxed.