Assistant Executive Review

I am a trainee accountant working in audit, so I manage client expectations regarding the delivery and timing of the audit, and manage EY team expectations regarding when to expect files to be received from the client to use as part of the audit.

I am a much better communicator now due to the different styles of communication I must have; coaching people less experienced than me, updating my managers with my progress, discussing with the client on technical issues.

The day to day job can vary depending on the EY and client team I work with. If the job is busy it can be enjoyable if the tasks are interesting and complex or involve a lot of client interaction, whereas if the jobs are more form-filling or office-based (rather than being based on client site) then it can be more boring.

There are infrequent rewards for hard work such as vouchers or team meals. I am given opportunities to take part in different roles such as recruitment and diversity/inclusiveness.

As I am the third year's intake there are often changes each year to the programme, for example the timing of exams and college leave. This makes it difficult to plan my personal life (e.g. holidays) around college time. Task delegation and team hierarchy is usually clear but as the teams are generally quite small (around 5/6 people on average)lines are usually blurred between who takes on what role.

There is not enough time with my training provider for my exams, however when I am in college training for my exams the resources and teachers are very knowledgeable, responsive and keen to help.

My counsellor is very on the ball if I have an issue and helps to resolve it. I find him very fair and as he's very experienced at EY he knows how to deal with the various issues I might have

I had to wait 2 years until my pay rise was enough to afford to move out. I am Liverpool based with the same salary as Manchester based staff; Manchester seems a lot more expensive particularly for rent so in some ways it is unfair on my Manchester based colleagues. My travel costs are generally paid for by my employer as 95% of the time I'm not based in the Liverpool office.

At recruitment events I have found opportunities to join apprenticeship networks. As I work in audit and am always on different client sites I am rarely in the office, so miss out on a lot of the social side of the job through this. My intake had 12 grads who all know each other quite well as they went to college together, however there were only 3 apprentices in my intake and all three of us go to college separately from other EY people.

Yes

It sets you up for a good career in finance as the experience and the qualifications are great.

It's a much steeper learning curve than I could have expected but it's definitely worth the challenge.