Trainee Accountant Review

My role involves auditing clients of EY, specifically those in the government and public sector including schools, councils and parts of the NHS. We work flexibly at EY so depending on team needs and location I could be working from home or in the office. We can have teams across multiple offices working on the same project which means you get to meet a lot of people outside your office as well. We are given tasks usually by a senior or manager which we then hand off to them for review and receive feedback on our work.

As an 18 year old you need to develop new skills which you have barely used before. for example, speaking to clients through email or on calls means you have to be able to write and communicate professionally. As an accountant Excel is your main tool so developing your skills with excel can help speed up and even reduce your workload.

Yes - to a certain extent. Obviously going straight into a professional work environment is quite a shock for an 18 year old as there is a degree of expectation to deliver placed on you as soon as you join which creates pressure. However, everyone who I have worked with so far has been very kind and helpful and there is a good team atmosphere which makes it enjoyable.

Everything has been booked in the calendar for us about 6 months in advance so far and there are regular catchups and apprenticeship guides to keep you up to date and make sure your keeping up. the learning/exams are well structured and give you a good amount of time to revise in between your exam and course.

We have counsellors and buddies assigned to us when we join. They are your first point of contact for any questions or problems and they are usually a few levels above you ,so manager and up. Buddies are a bit more informal and are usually 1 or 2 years further along in your course and can relate to what you are experiencing.

There has been a week or so long course which is either online or in person. This is basically a week in college where you learn most of the content. you then have a 2-3 week gap to your exam which is online. The teachers have been very good so far and are happy to help with any questions even outside college hours or in the 2-3 week lead up to the exam after college.

Doing the work alongside the qualification helps you relate what your learning to the job. This can help you better understand why your doing this work and helps give it more of a purpose. This also means you can do your work quicker and do not have to ask for help as much from your seniors.

There are a multitude of different social events and teams to get involved it. We have various sports clubs and teams including football and badmington. We have headspace downstairs in the office which organizes social events like lunches, parties and snack carts. we also have professional networking events organised by the CMA.

Yes

EY is a a strong brand and part of the big 4 international accounting and professional services firms. They offer a competitive salary and pay for/provide all the necessary training to help complete my qualification. EY also have a large support network in place to help look after its employees.

Make sure you understand the service line that you are applying to as your interviewer will likely be from that service line specifically and will ask you questions relating to it such as: what interests you about this service line? make sure you highlight your strengths but most importantly be yourself.