Apprentice Review

I am an accountant apprentice working within the finance department of the company. My responsibilities are month end reporting for different sectors of the company including reconciliations of ledgers and financial packs and spreadsheets for those higher to review and analyse. I also do adhoc tasks and put together spreadsheets that people within the company can use in order to produce reports or monthly reconciliations. I have interactions with a wide range of people within the company working in different offices and in the office i work at, either requesting information from them that needs to be passed on or completing certain things. I also recieve calls/ emails regarding queries people within the business might have.

I am currently studying AAT level 3 and am progressing through the course. I have had different internal courses, for example excel courses and arup finance courses. I have learnt different and more advanced skills within excel which are used daily, such as vlookup, pivots and macros. Also i have learnt about double entry bookeeping fixed assets and have improved on my analytic skills when reporting as i produce the financial report for the board.

I enjoy my work very much as the team have been extremely welcoming and i have fit in very well. The workload is suitable according to my study schedule which my manager is on top of and have taken both aspects into consideration. The company exceeded my expectations as i did not expect the workplace to be this friendly and welcoming.

I feel very valued by Arup as my manager praises me on my work and does not take credit for anything that i am asked to do. They encourage me to do things that I might not neccessarily have been comfortable with and internally when producing reports for different areas of the business people have produced positive feedback. I feel very involved in tasks and projects as I am given taks/projects to work on which have value and not just for the sake of it which makes me feel responsible for what I am doing.

The induction on BPP's side took a little longer than expected although the paperwork from Arup's side had been completed quickly. The training i recieve from my peers is very good as they are open to any questions i ask which are work/task related. I recieve a good amount of support within my work and do not feel as if i cannot ask questions. My BPP mentor has only had two reviews with myself however have been quite productive in how i should tackle the course, learning and taking exams.

The tutors I have had at college have been able to answer my questions when i have raised them meaning that i felt more comfortable in my studies. I do not feel any negativity in their attitude upon supporting me.

I recieve a substantial amount of support from my employer. My manager provides me with a lot of aupport and guidance for tasks that have been assigned for me to do. Also they review my reporting work before sending out to directors ensuring that I know what mistakes to look out for.

My travel costs are fairly high as there isnt much discount on Oyster cards and travel at peak time can cost £10 a day. I like the location as it is Central London which means the area is always busy. Social costs are okay when managing your finances however apprentices do not seem to get discounts as we work full time compared to uni students. However most uni students work along side of recieving student finance and bursary's which help them out socially and daily. Many high street shops, food places and social places only provide discount if you have a 'Unidays' or NUS. I have looked into the NUS discount for apprentices but it is no way near the discount uni students recieve with a normal nus card. This is a little unfair as apprentices do not get paid a fortune and there should be more discounts in place for apprentices on everything uni students get.

There are many company social events that i get invited to which is nice and i do attend. Also there are many voluntary events i get invited to by other departments within the business. Before working at Arup i was studying A levels and working part time.

Yes

It is a very good company to work for as they look after people very well and are a very friendly community. No one in the company treats others differently regardless of hierarchy and whether they are directors or not.

Be yourself within the interview, talk about your experiences and research into the company before any interview.