Auditor Review

My daily work involves looking at financial statement accounts and performing tests over the balances to verify the amounts and confirm that they are true and fair. I help coach more junior members of staff who are on the same programme as myself. I attend college and take (usually) 4 exams per year towards my ACA qualification.

I have learnt many new skills since joining EY. I have developed my people skills and my confidence has hugely increased as I have worked with clients to complete the audit and resolve issues. I have developed my problem solving skills and also improved my personal organization and time management.

I have found my experience so far really enjoyable and have no regrets about joining this programme. I believe I have developed into a more confident and assured person and have made many friends in the teams that I work with. As the firm take on between 15 - 20 people on the apprenticeship programme each year I have a large peer group, we all help each other through work and exam struggles.

The programme is well structured and I have always been clear on how I would progress in terms of exams, the plan for our exams is communicated to us clearly from the beginning both by management and older peers who are further progressed in the programme. The exam frequency is suitable and allows us to progress at a reasonable rate without being too overwhelmed with work obligations and revision.

EY have been totally supportive throughout my employment so far. They have supported my learning and personal needs. Everyone understanding that I joined the programme with almost no knowledge of the work I needed to complete, my peers and manager helped coach me to enable me to develop an understanding of my duties and the real purpose behind my work.

I have had a good experience with Kaplan, they provide really helpful learning materials such as revision folders as well as online clips which discuss tricky topics. My tutors are available for questions all the time even when I am not attending college and make every effort to support me so that I am able to pass my exams. There have been some difficulties in switching to a virtual learning environment and the experience is different from when I first joined however this has improved throughout.

I believe that my qualification helps me in my job role but will help me further in the future to progress in the industry. Due to the nature of the qualification not all exams are directly relevant to my specific job role however this benefits my by giving me an understanding of the wider accounting industry.

There are many opportunities and projects to get involved with at EY. We have held social events such as mud runs, boat racing and also have a football team. There are also many comittees within the office and company which everyone is encouraged to get involved with such as the womens network and Diversity and inclusion network. Everyone has the option of taking two paid days off from work to get involved with and support charities.

Yes

I feel that the apprenticeship was the best option for myself as I have gained real work experience as well as working towards my qualification which is well recognized within the industry. Throughout my 2.5 years working at EY I have worked with various different clients which gives my variety in my day to day work life. I enjoying working at different locations and different people all the time.

I would recommend being yourself and doing research into both the company and the apprenticeship programme. The programme is hard work and was a big step up from college into working full time in addition to taking exams. Approach the process and any interviews with confidence, the process isn't all about what you do/don't know, it will go a long way to show you have a good attitude and are open to learning.