Trainee Assurance Associate Review

The day often starts with a call with the engagement team to set out tasks for the rest of the day. Any questions about the work can be raised with your senior as you are working through tasks. There may be client calls at various points in the week if there are queries about evidence provided by them. Alot of work is done on excel but there are lots of other software that is used.

In the first 6 months, I sat and passed my first professional qualification - I will be sitting 2 more in the next 6 months. In total there are 15 exams to qualify so you get stuck into them straight away. Because college bookings are in 1/2 weeks blocks throughout the year you learn to balance your time between work and study.

I really enjoy the programme! It's a really good mix of work and study - we are given time to revise for exams and everyone in the business is super understanding. There are so many ways to get support during the programme. There are lots of other apprentices within the firm that you can ask for help whethere they are in your year group or further into the scheme.

From day 1 you are assigned an apprenticeship coach, "buddy" and counsellor. You coach is there to help with anything to do with qualifying and you counsellor oversees your progress within the business. Your buddy is someone on the same programme 1 year ahead and can answer so many questions

EY has several teams dedicated to supporting apprentices and everyone in the business. The student experience team is there to ensure we are well supported and the professional qualifications is there to help with exam bookings. The fact that the teams are separate means that the help is more specific

There is an EY dedicated Kaplan tutor who oversees our progress within our college time. They ensure that we are on track to pass each exam and solely works with EY students. Kaplan has facilities available to ask questions to tutors and book in a call.

The qualification through kaplan helps with the theory behind the day to day work. It builds a foundation that is needed to understand the fundamentals of accounting and audit which are required for the job daily.

We have office socials regularly for everyone in EY Audit. There are sports teams that you can get involved in - or even start your own! With Covid, socials are virtuals and sports teams are paused but they will be starting again soon.

Yes

Everyone at EY is so friendly and willing to help. The people in the firm want you to succeed so are extremely supportive and understanding when you need time to focus on other things.

There are online assessments, an experience day, then interviews. The experience day is a great way to meet other applicants and sense check if EY is right for you. Being yourself is the best way to succeed! For the interview stages, you want to ask as much as you can - its a great opportunity for you to see if you would enjoy your experience at the firm as the apprenticeship is 4/5 years.