Assistant Associate Review

I am an Assistant Associate within Tax Depreciation, I sit in a team of around 12 people. Tax depreciation sits in Corporate Tax which is made up of around 100 people including 9 other graduates/brightstarts/Industrial placement students. My day to day role involves writing the entitlement for a company to claim capital allowances and preparing the claims, this involves using land registry resources, building and valuation reports, site plans and cost information to pull together a claim. As part of this I work with Assistant Managers and Managers who review your work. This then gets reviewed by a senior manager and director before being sent to a client. Before preparing the claims we sometimes need to survey the property which is interesting - previous surveys have involved flying to Edinburgh and Ireland!

I am working towards my ACA accounting qualification and my CTA tax qualification. If I pass both of these I will be a fully qualified accountant and tax adviser. We also get sent on internal training courses with the tax graduates and school leavers nationally to develop our skills. Within Tax Depreciation we have national graduate training, and within the office twice monthly training. Each new joiner is also assigned a technical mentor who you can arrange a technical training session with (typically every two-three weeks) and who will go through anything you are unsure about on a one to one basis.

I really enjoy the team I work with as they are enthusiastic and lovely people, the atmosphere is really supportive and I feel that the development and training I am being given is really helping me to improve my skills. The work is interesting and varied which means I enjoy it.

Deloitte run an award scheme whereby members of your team can nominate you for a reward voucher, I have won twice which has really made me feel appreciated. Managers often say thank you when you've worked really hard on a project or if its been a tight deadline which make you feel like your work is noticed and appreciated.

There was a clear induction and we have exam timetables and a progression plans which shows how we are due to move up the firm providing we are successful.

The tutors at college are really helpful and supportive as they give you their phone number and email and are often available for help most of the time. One of my tutors came into college on a Sunday to run a drop in of extra revision if anyone is stuck. The lectures are also posted on-line so that you can re-watch any examples.

You are given a mentor who is also only a year above you who can answer any day to day questions and alleviate any concerns about college. You also get a formal appraiser, as well as a technical mentor.

The package which Deloitte offers is good as you get a pension and lots of options benefits, the salary progression is also good as after your first year you're on the same salary as a graduate. Whilst the first year salary is higher than a lot of school leaver programmes its still not that generous especially if you live away from home.

There are lots of social events whether organised among your year group, or whether they are social events for your team. There are also lots of opportunities to get involved in charity events, recently I was part of the corporate challenge at the Alexander stadium in Birmingham.

Yes

Deloitte is a really interesting and supportive company to work for. I really enjoy my job and feel valued, at times its hard work but I think its interesting, and I'll gain a good qualification.

Read the Financial times or the business section of newspaper to get an understanding for what's going on in the business world as it will give you something to talk about and general understanding of the business world. Be interested in things and have something to talk about which will show off your skills.