Rating

8/10
  • 1. Please give an overview of your role and what this involves on a day-to-day basis:
  • Resource Accounts Officer - HMRC Daily tasks - collating account information across departments and producing the Resource Accounts at the end of each financial year. Daily Interactions - external and internal customers. Communications within team and also with other departments. Responsibilities - at present as I am new I do not have many, however I am involved in certain projects and I am learning the processes and procedures for these. Projects - Consolidation of another department account ready for the production of the Resource Accounts. Daily - I regularly use excel spreadsheets, data entry, emailing with colleagues, attending meetings.

    8/10

  • 2. Have you learnt any new skills or developed existing skills?
  • I am currently learning for the apprenticeship and picking up new skills. I have done online training within HMRC and have gained knowledge from these. I am due to attend an Excel Course to improve my understanding of the formulas etc. that can be used within this software. I am gaining confidence within my work and also knowledge of how my department works and how this effects HMRC as a whole. I have learnt different aspects that HMRC are involved in and what the department actually does, I am learning the relevant processes within my team.

    7/10

  • 3. To what extent do you enjoy your programme?
  • I am thoroughly enjoying working with my team and gaining knowledge from all my colleagues. The work I do is vast and interesting and no two days are the same which is a key thing for me as previous jobs that I have done have been very monotonous. The company culture is very inclusive and there is a diverse team that work here. It has exceeded my expectations as I am doing an accountancy apprenticeship I wasn't sure that it would be so diverse and interesting, however it has proved otherwise and I am enjoying the learning experience.

    9/10

  • 4. How valued do you feel by Civil Service?
  • I feel very valued and my manager has expressed great interest in incorporating me within our team and also ensuring that I am given challenging and rewarding tasks and projects to get involved in. I have received recognition from the team for tasks that I have completed which will help the team with further work and enhance the training given to new colleagues.

    7/10

  • 5. How well organised/structured is your programme?
  • The programme has a good structure and my tutor is ensuring that I am challenged but not overwhelmed by the work I need to complete. The training is interesting and is well structured giving us the right amount of breaks between classroom studies. I feel that the time that we get out of the office to revise and complete tasks isn't quite as much as it should be as this course is quite full on and only 1 day a month has been expressed by other students and managers to be not enough. I have regular catch ups with my manager to monitor my progress both for my work and also the training I am completing and she is very understanding and accepting of what I am doing and how I am doing it. The only disorganisation I feel there has been is with the classroom study as I attended a 2 day booster course which I feel wasn't a productive use of my time.

    6/10

  • 6a. How much support do you receive from your training provider?
  • I receive a lot of support from my tutor and her enthusiasm is fantastic and helps me feel more enthused about my work as well. She is always available via email/phone if I have any questions and also gives very detailed feedback on my unit work so that I can improve and work to the best of my ability. The fact that she has a lot of confidence in me helps me feel more confident about what I am doing.

    10/10

  • 6b. How much support do you receive from your employer?
  • My manager is very supportive and is wanting to understand and know how she can support me in anyway that is felt necessary. There is also a head of learning for the apprenticeships who is also always available via email and has been very supportive when I have asked questions when feeling unsure of any aspects. The online support of the Kaplan websites has also been a great resource and breadth of knowledge for me to pull from as well.

    9/10

  • 7. How well does your salary/package meet your costs?
  • The salary exceeded my expectations and has been a great motivator for me as well. It is more than what I hoped for and is assisting me greatly with saving for a mortgage. I am easily able to pay bills and also save.

    9/10

  • 8. Are there many opportunities outside of work?
  • At present I am unaware of many outside opportunities, however through my own research I have found means of applying for external projects that I am able to get involved in. I have not yet applied for these as I do not feel that I have the knowledge or experience yet to benefit the other teams who are running these projects.

    7/10

  • 9. Would you recommend Civil Service to a friend?
  • Yes


  • 9b. Why?
  • The company itself is a great place to work and offers a lot of opportunities. The only thing I would say it is lacking is the organisation of the on-boarding process for the Fast Track Apprenticeship. On joining I felt this to be very ropey and not well organised.


  • 10. What tips or advice would you give to others applying to Civil Service?
  • Make sure you do your research and know exactly what it is that you want to get out of the job. I would let others know not to be disheartened with the on-boarding process, although this isn't well organised or informative, once actually in post the job itself is rewarding. I would like to have been told that upon joining things weren't quite ready for me as I have not had a desk nor was the relevant equipment ready for me on my arrival.


Details

Higher Level Apprenticeship

Accounting, Finance

South East

March 2017


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