Assurance Associate Review

I work within Banking & Capital Markets service line within Audit Assurance at EY. My day mainly consists of conversations with the client regarding any differences found within our testing; requesting of evidence; or queries on the general understanding of processes. Documentation consists mainly of results from our substantive and controls testing as well as analysis of different calculations used by the client.

I think becoming more professional seems to develop quite quickly within the first few months of joining the firm. When on client site you are surrounded by people who have been in the industry for a lot longer than yourself so you instinctively tend to pick up on the way they act and the way you should act in a professional environment.

Personally, I am really enjoying the apprenticeship and have no regrets in doing this over university. I feel like I have a lot of flexibility in when and where I work, and freedom around the work that I do, as long as all the work that needs to be done, gets completed within the deadline. This may not necessarily be true at university or other firms and I think that that is one of the main reasons why I enjoy it as much as I do.

I would say that the programme is well organised on the whole. When you first join, there is a lot of information about what the apprenticeship includes and what is expected from you. I think that the structure of the programme gives you a good balance of learning the content and getting on the job experience. At times, I feel more communication could be issued, to keep us updated on what is being organised behind the scenes, which I think would help put minds at ease during these unprecedented times.

There is no shortage of support from the firm. You have many points of contact which are reminded to you frequently, across lots of different levels. You have a buddy when you first join, who is a second year, for any basic queries or worries you have; a counsellor who is normally a Senior for any bigger queries that you have, including approval for holiday, and worries you may have on your client, as well as presenting you and your feedback at larger meetings; you also have an apprenticeship coach assigned to you who you can go to about anything relating to the course or your exams. These are the main people assigned to you, however I feel like with the environment at EY, you could speak to anybody of any seniority and they would be happy to help you.

For the first exam, we only spend a total of 7 days in college which makes things fairly rushed, however I feel like it is covered in enough detail for you to understand. They are an easy point of contact if you are ever struggling with revision or don't understand anything, and are also very helpful in providing further summaries and explanations online.

I haven't taken any exams yet and only learnt one module within the professional qualification, however I use this on a day to day basis. From talking to people who have been on the course, the modules they learn for the qualification seem to get used a lot of the time.

There's lots of different networks at EY which people can get involved in. This includes participating in different social activities and sports teams. People within a team tend to have a social event which they try to make a weekly occurrence too, like a quiz or drinks after work.

Yes

EY has a great culture and the environment within the company makes it a great place to work. They are very supportive and understanding when you have any worries and seems as they are always looking to put their people first. The range of service lines allow people to gain and develop a range of different skills.

I think the most important thing when applying to EY is just being yourself and remaining confident in interviews and on assessment days. A little preparation and development of your understanding around the day to day functions and objectives of the firm, and the specific service line you have applied for, could help in case you are questioned on it, however not obligatory. No prior knowledge of accounting or audit is required at all and that's probably one thing which I was worried about most when joining.