Financial Controller Review

In my role at SSE I work in the office doing Accounts. This could be anything from doing my college, which is distanced learning with AAT. I also help a lot with the stores, this being stock checking, reconciliation of the stock or just anything else I can help with around the office. It's been great getting an insight into seeing what an accountant does day to day and I think learning on the job has been really beneficial for my learning as it helps me use what I have learned at college and apply it to real life scenarios.

Yes I have already learned a lot of new skills at SSE. Such as, I have been learning to work on the accounting system Maximo which has been really interesting to use some actual accounting software and it has helped me understand what all the different parts of accounts is and why we use them.

I really enjoy my apprenticeship programme as I think learning on the job is a lot more helpful then just doing the theory of it. This is because it helps me understand it a lot better when I actually put what I'm learning into a real life scenario. Another reason I really enjoy my job is because everyone in my office (and on site) are really helpful and just good people which really helps my development as I'm not scared to ask any questions.

I would say my programme is rather well structured. Of course there have been challenges starting an apprenticeship in the middle of a pandemic, but I would think that would be the same everywhere and I would also say that we have probably dealt with it better than most. I also get a lot of support in doing my college work, as it is distant learning I normally have a weekly call with someone from my college who checks up and goes over everything I have done the following week and if I have any questions or anything I have struggled with. Furthermore if I ever feel I am falling behind with my college SSE is more then happy to give me more time to catch up or try to support me in any way possible.

I would say that my employer gives me a lot of support with whatever I need. Everyone at my work is really friendly and happy to help if you have any questions. Also like what I said in the previous question I also get a lot of support with my college work and extra time if it's ever needed for revising.

My tutor is really helpful and will answer questions whenever I need and will also have a teams call if I am really struggling with a certain area. Mostly I have weekly calls with her which I feel is the right time as in those calls we will agree what I can get done and by when which I feel is really helpful.

I would say that the qualification I am working towards greatly helps me to perform better in my role. This is because I am learning a lot of the accounts terms which I didn't know before and it is making it a lot easier for me to understand whatever it is I am working on.

Yes the company pays for everyone to go on a night out every year which is a great bonding experience as you get to know your colleagues outside of work, which I feel boosts the team morale and togetherness of the group. There is also a Virtual Coffee Morning every Friday which I believe started due to covid but I feel that is a great thing just to be able to have a chat to some people you might not see as much

Yes

Well I already have been recommending SSE to some of my friends and a couple of them have applied and have got interviews for SSE's 2022 Apprenticeship programme. I feel that it is a great place to get a start in. It also has a very wide range of apprenticeship opportunities.

The advice that I would give to others applying is just to be confident. There's a lot of great people at SSE and the people who I was in contact to during my application process really helped me. You should also be patient as they start the application process sometime in March although you probably won't start till sometime in August just as it's quite a long interview process and there are a lot of applicants.