Trainee Review

I am a trainee in the outsourcing department at Moore Stephens. On a daily basis I work for a variety of clients with their bookkeeping and management accounts. I interact daily with one of our client to post all orders, invoices and bank items and answer and queries they may have.

I only joined Moore Stephens in September and I am already only one exam away from being level 3 qualified. We go to college on a regular basis where we receive tuition on our up coming exams, we then break from college until our exam. In this time we have many resources provided in order to revise and have the tutors contacts if we have any questions. We also have internal training which is on a variety of things which gives you a more general outlook on accountancy and what the other departments around you do on a day to day basis. Since I have started I have gained a lot of experience on accounting software such as sage, xero and access dimensions.

The work I get given can be challenging but can be exciting as everything is new, you are surrounded by a team ranging in experience. They all understand that you are new and will not understand everything first time round so they continuously check on how you are coping and are open for any questions asked. This really helps you settle in and enjoy your time at work. When you join you will be included in an intake of other people in the same boat as you so for me it was "September 2017" in this you make good friends and links throughout the company. Also we have a buddy system so when you join you are assigned a buddy who is always there if you need any help with work or exams, they have done all the exams you are sitting recently so are a great help.

Every member of Moore Stephens is highly valued from when you join right to the top. When you join you are given a welcome dinner where you are accompanied by all directors and partners, it was great fun and makes you feel valued. You have regular meetings with your manager to check how you are coping with exams and work load. Everyone on your team is quick to praise you if you do some good work.

When I joined I was given a planner outlining how my next year was looking in regards to college, exams and internal training. The exams are frequent but not to close together, this allows you to progress quickly but ensuring you have enough time to get the sufficient amount of revision needed to pass exams. As well as this the work you perform is also planned for the next couple of weeks in advance, this allows you to make sure you are always busy but are never overloaded with work

As mentioned above are tutors are exceptional, we go to college roughly every month to learn the syllabus for your up coming exam. The classes are not to big so it allows you to ask questions and the tutor to ensure the whole class is keeping up. They provide their own resources which are very good and ensure you pass all your exams. The tutors give out there emails and phone numbers so you can message and ask the any questions you may have.

As mentioned before you have regular meetings with your manager to ensure you are coping. We have dedicated learning and development team who are always there if you need any help with college or exams and make sure all internal courses are well organised and makes sure you learn as much as you can. The buddy systems ensures you have someone to go to that have been through what you are going through only a short time ago.

The salary is very competitive with other apprentices in the accountancy sector, if not one of the best. It means that you still have a lot of money leftover once travel expenses are paid. There is a canteen in the building where you can get a hot lunch for cheap and it is very nice. So if you ever get bored of bringing in lunch there is an alternative.

Every employee of Moore Stephens is given a CSR (Corporate social responsibility) where you can do something for charity either independently or with team members. Every year there is a Christmas party, this year it was hosted in park lane and was a great laugh a good opportunity to meet new people and do some internal networking. There is also a opportunity to do external networking with colleagues, this is a great way to meet new people. There is many sports teams including football, netball or if you don't fancy that there is yoga

Yes

My time at Moore Stephens so far has been really good. I have met some great people and learnt a lot of stuff as my time continues here. There are many benefits that are offered as you start and continue to add more as time goes on. You feel very valued every day here which makes work enjoyable.

The application process does involve quite a few steps but so does every other apprenticeship, as long as you are honest in all interviews and try your hardest in the assessments you will be fine. In the group interview make sure you make your self heard and ensure everyone is included in the group discussions as this is trait that is needed on a day to day basis.