Associate Review

My role is that of an auditor. I work (most of the time) as part of a team to test a company's financial statements for material misstatement. This includes analysing financial information and having discussions with the client

I am currently studying for towards the ACA qualification and have so far achieved a certificate in finance, accounting and business (CFAB). My organisational and time management skills have improved vastly and as I progress further in my career I'm sure my delegation and management skills will also improve.

The programme can be enjoyable as you have the opportunity to meet new people every day (both client staff and staff at Deloitte). The job involves going to the various client sites so I have the opportunity to visit new places. However for parts of the year there are huge time pressures and large amounts of work to be done which can lead to very long working hours. This can be dealt with if needed to be done occasionally however working these hours for months at a time sometimes makes me question my choice.

I feel that most of the time I am a valued member of the team and this is reflected in feedback forms and verbal praise/thanks. But there are also times where a lot of hard work can be done with little/no recognition.

I think it is structured well. The programme not only takes into account the "grade" we are but also the number of years we've been there. For example, I will have training with other colleagues who joined at the same time as me but as they're graduates they are a higher grades. The exams are set out well and are more spread out than the graduate scheme so this fits in well with the five years.

There is a lot of support from my training provider. I always feel I can contact them by phone/e-mail if I have any problems. Their attitude is always friendly and willing to help.

There is a lot of support from my employer, people are always prepared to help me if I have a problem or have any queries. My appraiser is always happy to have a chat to catch up and see how things are going.

The salary is acceptable, as I live at home I do not incur many living costs. I would say the salary is competitive and for a school leaver is quite a step up from any other salary which would be earned in a part time job/summer job

Yes. There are always events going on which we can be involved in, not just relating to work but charity events, sporting events, events in schools and classrooms as well as uni open days etc. I regularly play football with my colleagues and take part in some of the charity events which happen during the year.

Yes

I think that the benefits of joining the school leaver scheme can outweigh the benefits of going to university in some situations. For me I wanted to become a qualified accountant and was even planning on doing accounting at uni before I applied to the brightstart scheme, so for me it was an easy choice. The benefit of having a big four company on my CV, a decent salary, 5 years experience and the ACA seemed a much more appealing prospect than going to uni but still having to apply to accoutning firms and begin my ACA whilst incurring the student debt. The biggest negative would be no degree however as I wish to stay within finance, for me, this wasn't such a major issue however someone who may not be sure and may want a broader range of options,m a degree may be more useful in providing this.

My advice would be to ensure that you have read up a little about the company and the job so you have a basic understanding of what you'll be doing and it's not a complete shock, it also gives you the opportunity to ask questions to your interviewer.