Business Apprentice Review

My day to day is completing various accounting tasks and tests designed to test the veracity of a client's accounting systems. The diversity of these tests and tasks can be large but the most frequent ones involve checking various pieces of paperwork against the information stores in other places or computer systems.

In the job you learn a lot of new skills, expansion of accounting knowledge is of course the key focus but due to the client-facing nature of the work picking up social skills is key too. As the work involves a lot of travelling, you also get very familiar with making bookings!

The work can be quite challenging at times and sometimes you are given responsibility beyond your knowledge though I find this keeps me on my toes. At certain peak times, working hours can shoot up to unacceptable levels without extra compensation which is a massive detriment on everyone in the business, though these periods do not last particularly long, they're often a reason people leave.

The programme has a heavier focus on work rather than schooling. This means sometimes the work you're doing and the education you have received don't quite align. THe path for advancement and education is however laid out very clearly and most of my colleagues in the business are aware of this path and have a good idea of what I should know.

We meet with counsellors quarterly to receive feedback and have apprenticeship coaches on hand at any time should we need it. Generally co-workers are quite understanding of issues and will make accommodations if needed. Some co-workers with special needs are given certain accommodations and allowances should any at all be necessary.

My employer books in all of the college time for me and plans it around my work. Sometimes inadequate time is given for revision so some colleagues have taken to using holiday time to revise. I have been allowed to take re-sits on the occasion I failed an exam. Some colleagues have also been given additional consideration if they have failed an important exam twice.

The education provided by college helps give greater context to the work we perform day to day. It helps us properly understand what we are doing, why we are doing it and enables us to find new ways to complete our work. I daily find myself using my college knowledge in my role at work.

There is the occasional 5 a side game played between different departments of the business. There are often small social events held in the office and monthly extra-office events such as drinks. The office aims to have a larger event quarterly. Recently as part of our office move, we have been partaking in small events with companies in our building.

Yes

I would recommend EY to a friend as the education given is world class as well as the clients and the salary is competitive for an apprenticeship scheme. I would not recommend it to every friend though as there are aspects of the job such as long hours or repetition that many people I know would not deal well with.

My advice would be to really research what the role you're applying for is, I did not have a straight idea of what my role was before joining the business and neither did many of my co-workers which resulted in some of them leaving. In the interview as a school-leaver apprentice, I think confidence went a long way as many other candidates seemed to be severely lacking.