Staff/Assistant Auditor Review

My role involves taking on a lot of responsibility for your own work. On a day-to-day basis I perform audit work on various accounts for whichever client I am assigned to at the time. This involved testing that the accounts are accurate and complete and that are minimal mistakes within the figures/calculations used by the client.

I have learnt many new skills, including my communication skills through engaging with the client as well as my skills when using excel. Developing my excel skills was detrimental as I use it every single day, so knowing all the shortcuts/formatting tools is incredibly useful in saving time as well as allowing me to produce the highest quality work.

I really enjoy my job because every day really is different. Although I may be working on the same client each day or even the same accounts each day, the actual work varies massively. For example, last week I took minutes of an important team meeting, I contacted the client on numerous occasions, I selected samples and also tested sample support. I also really enjoy going to college and being able to build relationships with others in the year group who I don't actually get to work with.

I believe the structure of my programme is very well set as there are generous breaks between times when I am in college. For example, I just had one exam yesterday (2nd May) and I don't have college for my next course until the end of July. This allows me to focus on developing my skills at work and means my time at college feels less stressful.

A lot of support is offered from multiple people at work. We are each assigned an apprentice coach who's role is to support us with anything relating to our apprenticeship as well as any health & wellbeing issues. We are also assigned a counsellor who is always there to help us with any issues we have at all. We have regular catch-ups to discuss progress, concerns and next steps. Everyone else on the team is also very supportive in terms of helping me develop my own skills as well as being supportive whenever I have an exam coming up. If you ask, the team are more than happy for you to have a day or a few days off work to focus on revising for the exam that is coming up, which I have personally felt to be very helpful.

My training provider provides very well structured/details training courses for each individual course which is delivered by friendly, well-knowledged tutors. The tutors are incredibly helpful and are happy to share their personal phone number or email in case we need to contact them on a non-working day. In addition to the normal college course, my training provider also offers an extra day which is focused entirely on exam preparation and doing as many practice questions as we can with the tutor.

I believe my qualification does actually help me perform better in my role as it helps me better understand how the client may be calculating some figures and helps me understand how different businesses work in general. My qualification also helps me in knowing what to look out for when testing certain accounts and what is the most likely cause of concern for each.

Yes there are multiple extra-curricular activities available at work. For example, there is a 3 peaks challenge and a Petra trek in Georgia. There are also sports teams including cricket and football teams. At the office, there are also numerous networking event held where there are speakers involved. In addition, there are multiple social events that are arranged throughout the year which includes a Summer party which is an opportunity for the whole office to get together and socialise/network.

Yes

EY is an amazing place to start your career and offers lots of opportunities for growth and development. All the other colleagues are really welcoming and everyone wants you to develop as much as you do. There are also lots of support systems within EY so you know you are never alone and there is always someone there who can offer some help. In addition, there are lots of benefits which are offered to employees, including a generous amount of holidays even for new joiners as well as a 'spend account' where we are allowed to spend £500 towards our own health & wellbeing.

My biggest piece of advise would be to ask as many questions as possible. You should never feel like you are stuck on something because you don't know how to do it. As mentioned before there is always someone there to offer support so if you have any question or issue there is always someone you can ask.