Trainee Associate Review

Working in audit includes a large amount of contacting clients to obtain supporting documents and tie them to items we are testing as part of our audit. This includes testing all areas of the balance sheet and income statement such as all assets, liabilities, revenue etc.

I have developed team skills as you need to be able to work in a team to work through high amount of workload during busy seasons. Also I have developed strong communication skills and leadership skill when contacting clients to obtain supporting documents that we need to perform our procedures.

So far I have enjoyed my experience as it has given me real world experience working with some of the largest FTSE 100 companies in the world. This is a great opportunity for such a young age. Also allowing time off for college work has eased workloads allowing a more enjoyable programee.

The EY team have put many procedures into place such as setting up college and exams well in advanced which allows you to plan around those exams and be assigned to work around those dates. Also there is a lot of support available to apprentice students which makes it well structured.

A lot. Everyone I have worked with so far at EY has been extremely supportive and they understand that we are completely new to audit. Therefore when assigned work they expect you to need additional support and they therefore provide this. This is reflected in work allocation, including starting with easier areas of audit.

Kaplan was extremely supportive whilst studying. This included have live chat options available at any time to contact a tutor at Kaplan who could answer any question that you had there and then. They also had an open e-mail box that students could use at any point for support that was answered extremely quickly.

The apprentice course has gone slowly, in the sense we have only done 1 of 15 exams in the first 6 months at EY. Therefore there is little knowledge that has come from the training provider to use during audit. This is something that could be changed by possibly going through the first few courses quicker.

Due to the COVId-19 pandemic and joining during lockdown I have yet to attend any in-person social event. However, I am aware there is a large number of social, sports and team events available outside of work. This allows for a great social and network opportunity for all employees and apprentices.

Yes

The apprentice programme is a fantastic opportunity for school leavers to gain real world experience in financial services in a big 4 firm as well as the opportunity to work on some of the largest companies in the world. So far it has been a great experience that I would recommend.

I would say you should do some research into EY, what EY does and who some of their largest client are. This allows you to have conversations with EY recruiters and this allows them to know you have looked into EY deeper. I would also keep upto date with new stories and the economy.