Associate Review

I am a Associate working at Grant Thornton, Leicester within the audit department. My daily tasks include visiting clients and performing tests in order to provide assurance that the financial statements show a true and fair view of the company. Each week has been very different from the next, which I enjoy as it makes my job very varied. Furthermore, I am studying for my ACCA qualification which I attend Kaplan College in Nottingham. I really enjoy college as it is a good way to meet other people from different firms and learn lots about the job.

I am studying for my ACCA, which I have completed 3 out of the 14 exams. I find college very interesting and informative as I have learnt so much in the past 6 months, both about Grant Thornton and Accountancy in general. I have also attended various training courses at Grant Thornton's internal training facility at Bradenham Manor, which is a great place to develop your skills at work and your networking skills.

I enjoy the school leaver programme and working at Grant Thornton as everyone is so friendly and willing to help. I also enjoy the work as it can be challenging with the amount of responsibility given to me, however it can be very rewarding when completed. I also really enjoy the culture at GT as it is not just about work, with the company holding events such as a Football Tournament, nights out, meals, bowling etc.

I do feel very valued at Grant Thornton which is shown to me though the reward system we have in operation - these are CLEARR points, which can be given when someone has gone out of their way to do something extra. We also have feedback forms which are given to the in charge or manager on the job that you worked for, and they then explain what you did good on the job and what you could improve on, which I find very useful.

The school leaver programme is very well organised, as I have completed 3 exams and now I have a break until September until I start college again, this has enabled me to get more experience in audits and get to know more about Grant Thornton and how they operate.

I have received a lot of support through Kaplan, as whenever I had a question they were available to ask. The tutors always gave us their email address which was helpful when I was revising and had a question to ask before my next lesson. Also when I was struggling with one of my exams, a tutor made themselves available at lunch time in order to help me.

I have received a lot of support throughout my training contract. I have a people manager who is always willing to help and is there for any queries I may have or any problems to discuss. Furthermore, once I accepted the job at GT I was given a "Buddy" who was also a school leaver and had been through the same experience as me, which was very useful to be able to ask questions or report any problems that I did not feel comfortable to ask my people manager. It was also nice to speak to someone before starting at the firm as it gave me more of any idea of what the people were like.

My salary does meet my costs, however with living in Nottingham and working in Leicester, a lot of my salary goes towards travel expenses.

There are many opportunities to do outside work, such as; nights out, meals, football tournaments, bowling etc. We also have monthly pizza day in the office which is a good chance to talk to other people outside the audit department.

Yes

Everyone is so friendly and willing to help and I have learnt so much in the last 6 months which has enabled me to get more responsibility within my job role.

I would advise others to give plenty of examples of their application form for questions such as; when have you worked in a team? when have you shown leadership skills? etc. As Grant Thornton in Leicester do not have any entry requirements any more as they are trying to focus on individually personality and how they interact with others/ clients.