360 Apprentice Review

As a 360 apprentice you experience loads of different areas of the business. Some areas can be more focussed on technical work and heavily computer based, whereas other areas can focus on more client facing and team working. For me working in Tax, I help with technical pieces of work.

I have learnt lots of different skills. When I first started, I was relatively shy and awkward, however with lots of exposure to different people (colleagues and clients) it helped develop my communication and helped me build rapport with many diiferent people. My computer skills and knowledge of different programs has increased also. Working in tax, my technical knowledge of the Tax legislation has massively increased from no knowledge of tax do a good understanding across a lot of taxes.

I find some days quite hard and challenging. There can also be some boring days as I think there is in a lot of different jobs. The job can be quite rewarding, you can get good feedback form clients and managers as well as make good money for the company and your clients.

The program is fairly well structured with the oppurtunity to experience loads of different teams. This can also be a downfall as when you move teams you can be seen as a junior member of the various teams for long time. There is a good structure of progression though and you will progress up the ladder with passing of exams and gaining of experience

I think you can receive a lot of support from KPMG. There are a lot of formal ways of receiving support through the apprenticeship advisors / leaders however I have not made much use of this as I prefer to be more independent. Having said this I get informal support everyday through chatting to friends at work and my managers are very supportive with my everyday work.

We receive a good amount of support. There are various college courses including face to face classroom courses, live online courses, recorded courses that the company onroll you on before each exam. I failed the first exam by not making good enough use of the support from the training provider but after this I realised there was a lot of material / resources / people to support us.

I actually think a lot of the things I was doing in my course were not particularly helpful and relevant to my job I decided to specialise in. The course was accounting based which was relevant to my first placement in Audit, but in the Tax team only a couple of exams were relevant. Having said this moving to the next part of my apprenticeship the exams are becoming more and more relevant

I think there is a lot of different opportunities and outside of work activities to get involved in but to be honest I haven't really got involved in them so not sure I can comment on any formal events. I have a lot of experience of informal social activities and team parties etc that are always fun. Organised fun just isn't really my thing.

Yes

Throughout probably 90% of the time that I was completing my apprenticeship I thought I hated it, however I look back and think it has been invaluable experience. There is a lot of opportunity for progression and the pay is generally regarded as pretty good. The qualifications I will receive by the end of my apprenticeship will be of the highest standard too.

I applied about 4 years ago so the process may have changed quite a lot, but just remember they aren't looking for the finished articles to give apprentice jobs to so I think it is important to show that you a capable of learning and have some interest in the company and job.