Trainee Associate Review

I usually work on a different client every 2-3 weeks and I usually carry out most of the testing required within the audit of a company. This means agreeing invoices to ledgers we obtained from the company. I also sometimes have meetings/calls for future jobs I will be on, to set out a plan of the audit for the team to follow.

Working in EY has definitely developed my confidence and communication skills. Within EY you are working with so many different people all the time as your jobs change so it's nice to get to know so many new people all the time. Working with the different clients as well has definitely enabled my confidence to grow.

I think my programme was definitely the right choice for me after leaving school. I enjoy it majority of the time, but sometimes it can be quite overwhelming learning so much new stuff about accounting and a new job, as well as having to revise for upcoming exams. One thing I didn't enjoy was the difference made between the school leavers and the graduates. I think we all should be included in the same training at the very start of the year as I feel this would make it easier and less intimidating to make friends with them, as when the school leavers met the graduates, they had already been training for a week together.

To be honest I don't think our programme is that well organised. I have had to find out a lot of things myself, especially in relation to my exams and qualification. There seemed to be a lot of confusion about when our exams actually were to be sat, I had a lot of different answers from a few different people and it is yet to be sorted. A lot of stuff I've found out has come from the school leavers in the year above me, however it is not their responsibility to tell the new starts what is expected of them.

Our employer is helpful when they can be, however I feel this question ties in with the above for me. Not many people in EY know the dates etc of our exams for the school leaver programme and so it is not very calming when you are stressed about something and nobody can give you an exact answer.

Kaplan are very good at providing support. They have a 24 hour chat line where lecturers are online at all times for you to ask any questions or worries. Their website is also very helpful in relation to what we need to learn for each exam and with providing useful notes and exam practice questions.

Now that I have started revising towards my exam in May I feel that a few of the topics I have been learning for my exam has definitely allowed me to understand my work better. I feel that I can work more things out for myself now and don't need to ask just as many questions as I did before I started revising.

There are lots of extra-curricular activities to get involved in at EY. There are different sports clubs and always events running that the talent team are looking volunteers for. I have been involved in a few careers fairs at schools to help promote the school leavers programme. EY also always organise events for different teams as a thank you for good work etc.

Yes

I would recommend EY to a friend as I think it is a really good company to work for. They are very involved with each individual person and everyone is so friendly and helpful - you never feel like you cannot ask a question as there is always someone there willing to help you.

I would tell others applying to EY, to just be yourself and not to worry too much. EY don't depend on your qualifications or how well you did in school. They just want to get to know you and to see if you'd be a good fit in the culture at EY.