Senior Associate - Assurance Review

My role as a senior within assurance involves coaching junior staff members on auditing financial statements/controls and interacting with managers, senior managers and partners on the timeline of the audit. My role within assurance also involves face to face client interaction in obtaining an understanding of their business and processes.

I am currently undertaking the ACA qualification which is a series of 15 exams which is designed to help increase my comprehension and skillset within business, finance and taxation. I have also been able to develop my confidence and resilience in my role with a great increase in my communication skills.

I enjoy my programme as the level of support at EY is quite good in terms of the training and coaching you receive. EY has a company culture of putting the people first and also providing opportunities for growth. From my personal experience I have enjoyed it as the company really provides you with opportunities during your programme and various pathways beyond your programme. In

I believe my experience on the programme has been structured as annually I understand what is expected from me in terms of my off the job training (Training and College) and also my clients that I have been scheduled to work on. I have rated it an 8 as I believe there is room for improvement as the firm should offer more time off for studying where requested.

I believe I have access to a lot of support from my employer through the forms of: An Apprenticeship Coach - Who I can speak to regarding my concerns, progress on the apprenticeship and my well being. A counsellor - Who I can speak to regarding to regarding concerns on my apprenticeship, my well being and my career ambitions. The general attitude is that they are all supportive and I have been grateful for the support I have received.

We are provided with Kaplan tutors who we can reach out to with questions surrounding our qualification such as support on exam questions and tricky topics. They are always willing to stay back to help you understand a topic and are on hand to answer your emails even on the weekend. We are sent to college over sets during the year and we are guided on what to do to get through the qualification by the tutors. In addition, there is further support available from Kaplan if there is major concerns.

What I am learning on the apprenticeship does help me in my day to day role as it does allow me to understand complex business's and understand current legislation and accounting practices. I have been fortunately able to put the theory that I have learnt into practice and I feel like I know more about my job from progressing through my qualification.

There are many networks to get involved in from faith-based communities, sports networks, diversity networks and department wide activities for professional networking events. There are also CSR days which are provided which you can uptake with your team and help local communities. There is also opportunities to get involved and support networks by running for chair or by supporting a function of the network such as handling the inbox and etc.

Yes

EY is a great place to start your career as it is a firm which provides you with exposure to international clients, international colleagues to work with and multiple career paths to look forward to. I personally would recommend an apprenticeship at EY as it is a way to obtain a professional qualification whilst being trained by world class professionals.

I would say that being yourself ( as much as it is cliche) is the key to passing successfully throughout the application process. This is what helped me personally pass through the application process as showing my authentic self allowed the firm to assess that I would be a correct fit whilst I could also assess if this is a place for me.