Accounts apprentice Review

My day to day job role is to go through invoices and match them to PODs and pas them through for payment if all has been delivered and received. It includes me querying invoices due to purchase orders and prices and I have to deal with it and get them sorted to what was agreed. Monthly I do supplier reconciliations before making payment to a suppliers. I also do VAT journals for foreign payments made in Europe.

I have developed loads of skills and enhanced a few that I already had. I have a lot of confidence but I believe since I started working for costain, meeting all these people has given me a lot more confidence which I didn’t think I could get! Also I have learned that listening is key in progression. If you take constructive criticism and turn it around you will always keep moving up towards anything.

I absolutely love the programme I am in. The work and studying is separate and costain always give you time off so you can make sure your studies are up to scratch. Whenever you need help you just ask and it’s almost actioned straight away most of the time. I love numbers so wasn’t afraid to get into a role like this and ever since I started it has been one hell of a journey!

It is very well and organised. I am currently taking a day off a week from work so I can study from home. I have half an hour everyday at the end of each working day to go through my apprenticeship related things. I wasn’t so very organised at first but learning things from colleagues always helps and they taught me to prioritise and make sure you are keeping a list of things that need to be done to stay organised.

I receive a lot of support from my employer. They have always been there for me and make sure that we know that when we feel uncomfortable for whatever reason we should come forward and discuss as there is no criticism there. They care about your wellbeing and not just the working side of things which I think is key in getting the best out of someone as how can someone work well if they are not happy? A happy employee is a fully functioning employee!

Not the best. I think I have been cursed with the wrong assessors from my training provider. Everytime I get on top of things with one, they seem to leave and waiting for another assessor does take time as the assessor has to go through lots of students and it’s sometimes months before they get back to me and once they do, things are all over the place! Still keep trying and going on.

So what I do at work was just me learning how to do something. I didn’t understand the behind the scenes of the moves. For example I know how to do it but I don’t know why I am doing it. Studying brought it out to the open on how finance works and why certain moves are made. It opened my view and now when I work I understand it from the business point of view.

We do a lot of volunteering as we are in the construction industry and we always want to give back to the public. It varies from litter picking to going to schools and exhibitions to explain to people what is it we are doing and how we want to change London for the better. They give you first aid courses and any other accredited trainings that you think will be beneficial for yourself. All you have to do is ask!

Yes

I will definitely recommend costain to a friend as I can say first hand that they are a great employer who not only help you develop yourself in the working world but also outside the working world. Yoga classes to keep your mind fresh to desk stretches to keep your body in good shape. They also are always open to questions and love to hear what an employee has to say so in other words, you will always be heard !

I would say be yourself, don’t shy away as character is the way forward. Do your background research to understand what is that Costain do and what sectors they cover in engineering and construction. I will also say that you should be an hungry self motivated person and tell them that you are hear to learn and not show. To want to learn is the skill you need to build a future with a company like Costain.