Corporate Assistant Review

by Forvis Mazars

Best Apprenticeship Employer

Rating

6.8/10

1. Please give an overview of your role and what this involves on a day-to-day basis:

The job involves auditing financial information for clients to ensure information within the clients financial statements are a true and fair reflection of their financial position. We do this performing tests on financial information.

6/10

2. Have you learnt any new skills or developed existing skills?

I have learned a lot of new skills during work, mostly relating to being in a professional environment and learning to communicate with various people, clients or different colleagues you are working in a team with.

8/10

3. To what extent do you enjoy your programme?

I enjoy my programme with regards to some of the work and testing we perform and the different people/businesses we work with. But it gets very intense when it is exam period as you will have to be revising after a working day which means a lot of sacrifices have to be made at these times.

6/10

4. How well organised/structured is your programme?

The apprenticeship is structured well as BPP work closely with Mazars to ensure apprentices are on track in their programme. Although if you do have questions about your learning, it takes a very long time for the training provider to get back to you.

7/10

5. How much support do you receive from your employer?

I receive a lot of support as I have a line manager I can speak to about any questions I have. Also everybody I have worked with so far has helped me through my work and coached me when I have needed it or been assigned a section of an audit file I have not done before.

7/10

6. How much support do you receive from your training provider when working towards your qualifications?

There is support available from the training supplier but it is a forum where you type in a question and a tutor will get back to you at some point. This does work but having help face to face can be a lot more efficient and useful therefore I tend to ask people at work as they may have already sat these exams.

5/10

7. How well do you feel that your qualification (through your training provider) helps you to perform better in your role?

I feel it helps to an extent as you learn the basics of finance at the start setting the foundations for your work. But I haven't specifically done an Audit paper yet so there hasn't been anything that has helped my work directly. I do have an audit paper coming up so hopefully when I learn the content it will help me with my work directly

7/10

8. Are there extra-curricular activities to get involved in at your work? (For example, any social activities, sports teams, or even professional networking events.)

There are socials every month, including activities or going to sports events. There are also sports teams to get involved with, football being the most popular. There are also lots of networking events throughout the year. This all helps to know your colleagues better and have a break from talking about work.

8/10

9a. Would you recommend Forvis Mazars to a friend?

Yes

9b. Why?

Because it gives a great experience of working in a professional environment even though it can be very intense at times. But after you qualify it opens a lot of doors for various businesses.

10. What tips or advice would you give to others applying to Forvis Mazars?

I would say to speak confidently and have good examples ready for an interview relating to why you would suit the role. I would also say understand what you are getting yourself into in terms of full time work (Mon-Fri 9am-5pm) and studying on top of this. As this means nearer to exam times you may have to sacrifice evenings and weekends. But there is a huge sense of achievement when you do pass an exam.