Consultant Review

On a day-day basis, I meet clients and work with them to achieve their business needs. I work across different industries and sectors to provide them with advice on what to do next. The topic of this is all dependent on the team and sector I am in. External training courses are provided by BPP and provide me with the opportunity to get a Level 3, 4 and professional qualification over the 6 years. In my role, I have learnt all about consulting which is great seeing as I had little to no idea about what it actually was when I applied.

I have been gained a Level 3 AAT qualification within my first six months at the firm and through the 6 years, I will be getting a Level 4 qualification as well as a further professional qualification dependent on my department preference. With internal training courses, there are weekly sessions to help an individual learn more about the world of consulting and the skills you need on a daily basis.

I enjoy my work a lot as it never fails to be interesting and engaging. There are many development opportunities and that is one thing that I value the most. The teams that I have worked in so far have been nothing short of supportive as they understand what it must feel like in my shoes. This experience has been much better than my expectations as I was initially worried about being treated differently due to me being an apprentice but I can happily say that I fit right in.

My programme is very well structured. We had a 2 week induction to begin with. We get constant emails about training opportunities and we have certain contacts we can go to for support. With the studying, we have great tutors at BPP who are very supportive. My programme is well organised and the task delegation is very efficient.

We are assigned 2 managers and also a mentor. All are helpful for different reasons. I have weekly meetings with my line manager and they are good for checking my progress. The multiple contacts I have for support through email and phone are useful too. The attitude I am met with when asking for support is always lovely and everyone is willing to help.

When working towards my professional qualifications, I receive a lot of support from my tutors. Firstly, they teach us the course in detail and are always open to answering every question. After the course has finished, they are available to contact on any issues we face when revising. Finally, a day before the exam, the tutors are answering questions on a student forum throughout the whole day to free up any confusion we might face before the exam. The tutors are very nice and engaging, they always want to get the best out of us.

What I am learning on my apprenticeship does not have too much of an effect on my daily tasks. I definitely do see some parallels with the qualification and my work but not as much as I would have hoped for. I believe that later on down the line when I get my professional qualification, this will change as it will be specific to the department I wish to work in.

Company events like apprenticeship gatherings and dinners are available to us. The social events within the teams and departments are also quite frequent and are a great way of getting to know more people. Building your network is encouraged through the different networks that I can join and events that I can attend. When I am not working, I am either revising or trying to get to know more people within the company. Finding opportunities to go out and meet people at events is a fun way to network.

Yes

The firm is very supportive and will be greater than your expectations. To begin with, everyone will feel like there will be no support and this may push them away from applying but I can confidently say that this is not the case. I have been supported and challenged so much in my first six months and it is so good for my development.

The application process is pretty simple with the provision of a CV, a cover letter and answering a few questions in detail. In regards to the questions, make sure you search up the KPMG values and use these buzz words in your answers. With the interview and assessment days, nothing can prepare you for them so my advice would be to just be yourself and do your best. KPMG really value integrity and being genuine. Polish up on any literacy skills as there are many opportunities throughout all application stages to showcase how good you are at articulating yourself through words.