Apprentice Review

Supporting in the provision of Global Mobility services within my firm's tax department. This includes providing advisory (e.g. answering queries) and compliance services (e.g. tax returns) to our clients and their employees in respect of the tax and social security implications of their moves/travel to/from the UK.

I have learnt/developed many skills, including how to effectively communicate with others in my department, technical knowledge that is relevant for my department and generally within tax, how to adapt my approaches, working style and communication to fit those of others, and how to best manage my workload in a professional services environment.

I enjoy all aspects of my programme relating to becoming integrated into my current department. I enjoy my day-to-day work and working on diverse projects as per the nature of my role. I do not like having to focus on many different aspects of my apprenticeship at once and can find this overwhelming (as these include work, exam preparations, skills and behaviour essays and meeting training targets)

The programme is well structured with regard to the pace at which I sit exams and there is an arrangement of high quality tuition provided. I find that there can be disorganisation however in how aspects of my programme are tracked and communicated, as these can be left unclear or answered not long before the start date (e.g. for exam tuition).

On a departmental level, I receive excellent support from my performance manager. Additionally, the company arranges for me to receive high quality tuition. I feel that my employer's direct team for handling apprenticeship queries can lack in providing me with support on general queries I have on my apprenticeship (as I feel the team often deflects queries). I believe my employer could communicate more clearly and be more organised with aspects of my apprenticeship.

My training provider proivdes significant and very useful support, including quality tuition and dedicated, skilled tutors who are willing to dedicate their time and devote themselves to help students work towards their qualifications. The only development point for my training provider would be from an admin perspective - they have automatically marked me as absent twice from a course I attended and they are yet to rectify the error.

I principally believe that improvements in my day-to-day role have mainly been through my experience in the department, however my training provider has helped me to consolidate my experiences in a valuable way and further my writing techniques generally using a what you did, how you did it, why you did it that way approach to writing.

There are many extra-curricular activities to get involved with at my work, including many different societies and clubs for those who share interests. There are also many internal networking opportunities for those who want to build relationships with colleagues outside of their department. The firm is very accommodating to facilitating these opportunities.

Yes

They focus on their employees and have a culture of trying to create the best environment for them. This includes leading from the top and being proactive with ethical initiatives such as summer hours for employees and monthly Black Lives Matter calls (in response to the Black Lives Matter movement) to openly discuss race issues.

Try to be proactive, ask questions and be honest and persistent with your journey. Although it can take time to find your place in the firm, the culture of the company ultimately supports you on that journey. Throughout the firm, being proactive and asking questions to further your understanding rewards growth.