Associate Review

Job title - Associate. Service line - Financial Services Audit. The majority of the work I do is with clients around the country, meaning a lot more travel than I was initially informed of. My responsibilities are currently quite tame, however I have been given work to perform that is several levels above my pay grade, which was less about challenging me and more that there was nobody else to perform it. I have enjoyed the work I do, but at no point was I informed of the pure volume of travel involved in the job, which may have been an 'assumed' piece of knowledge, but coming straight from 6th Form into work, some warning would have been appreciated. The hours that I work during the busy period (usually jan-march) are awful, often 15-17 hour days, and we are expected to work a 50 hour week during this period which I was not informed of.

The challenges ive been faced with have certainly allowed me to learn new skills, such as confidence with clients, essay writing etc. The training given to myself has been exemplary, and i am never at a shortage of training.

The work i do is amazingly interesting (to a large extent, but nobody will ever love every job they do) and the people that i work alongside are fantastic. The hours make the job difficult to enjoy, and so does the travel.

TOO valued! As i am a school leaver and not a graduate, i am cheaper to employ, and as such, i am often requested on multiple clients, meaning i have a larger breadth of experience. Managers and seniors all appreciate the work we do, and we receive recognition for this.

The structure, although in my opinion is a little stretched, is very well organised. The initial process of joining was to set us up with training that was designed for new joiners. A point of improvement is that when i first joined, the time spent learning the KNOWLEDGE behind WHY we perform tasks was not very prevalent.

plenty - we have one senior member of staff assigned to us who we can approach with any struggles or issues and we can confide a lot in them. Everyone is happy to help with any questions we would have.

As above - plenty.

We receive ample finding for meals when on site, and never have to pay for hotels out of our own pocket. The salary i earn is substantially less than that of a graduate, often whom i am more experienced than with the work we will perform. Next year i will be reviewing the work of people who are earning more than i am, which is a little demoralising (and i understand this to be because they do have a degree, however i think that the wage gap, which is somewhere in the £3-5k region out of a £15k starting salary, is quite an unfair difference)

Plenty of company events, team socials, sports opportunities if we are not away on an engagement.

No

I've put no as i would only recommend this role to a certain breed of individuals known as workaholics. If i had known the job was so demanding, i may have looked elsewhere as it is quite a draining job.

for anyone applying to FS Audit - understand that there is a lot of travel, and this is fun in the sense that you can eat at a lot of restaurants and stay in new cities. Also know that there is a 3-4 month period that you are EXPECTED to work late (up to 10-15 hours a day)