Audit Apprentice Review

On a typical day, you will be assigned work in the morning to be completed to a certain deadline. The tasks can vary, but in your first year they are more generic and 'simple' whereas going into my second year I have found them to be more complex and challenging and will take more time to complete.

Within KPMG, online trainings are provided to keep your knowledge updated on the latest systems they use. In addition to this, on occasion you have a training day where you can complete an online course and quiz. For my apprenticeship work with BPP, you have 12 reflective statements to write, all of which come with videos and training on each topic.

Trying to balance the workload of your job and exams is difficult and defiantly stressful, especially during busy season when you are expected to work longer hours or maybe even work on the weekend, which would be prime revision time. I also feel like the days spent at college learning the next exam content is too short and makes the whole experience unenjoyable.

The programme is fairly organised and structured as you given in advance as list of all exams and the dates you'll be sitting them. You are also given deadlines for your reflective statements so you know in advance when to complete them by. However, when these are submitted they always take a long time to be marked by BPP.

My employer doesn't provide a lot of support for exams. We only receive one study day for each exam, which i believe is not enough and are expected to use our annual leave if we want more days. They also expect you to stay late during busy season even if you have exams to revise for. For me personally, this creates a lot of stress and anxiety around my exams as I always feel unprepared. When i have tried to ask for a deferral, they have denied it.

Other then the initial college days we have, I don't think BPP provide any additional support before the exams. We have access to online learning materials but receiving help and responses to any questions from a tutor is very difficult. After completing college, I have no contact with BPP before the exam.

My qualifications have made things within my role easier to understand as I have some background knowledge on them. You are thrown into the role when you join as it can be very overwhelming but slowing increasing your knowledge when completing exams makes you feel more confident when working on certain tasks within the role.

At KPMG, they have lots of social events that regularly take place, with an after work social planned every couple of weeks and bigger events, such as a department ball, every half year. They also have lots of committees and teams that you can join depending on your individual interests.

No

I think the social aspect of the company is very good but I think the workload and pressure put on apprentices and new grads who have little to no experience is a lot and little guidance is provided as everyone is too busy with work to show you how to complete the work effectively. Whilst this may vary depending on which team you are on, in my personal experience I have found it very difficult to receive coaching on work.

Make sure you do your research into the company and look around and compare what you find to other similar companies as they may be more suited to you. If you do join, try to join the committees and get involved as much as possible, even if this means coming into the office more frequently instead of working from home.