KPMG360 Apprentice Review

My apprenticeship is rotational for the first 3 years, this means on a 6-monthly basis I change departments. Many of these departments have been in external audit due to the demand in those departments. On a day to day basis I have to interact with my team and the client, currently via Microsoft Teams due to the pandemic. I complete various testing, completing testing work papers and more recently working on reports. Admin wise we have a weekly requirement to complete timesheets and there are various mandatory trainings throughout the year.

Yes, I have definitely developed both new and existing skills. The quality of my communication has developed greatly, due to the volume of interactions I have via email, telephone and video calls (Microsoft teams). My professional behaviour and documentation has also developed, learning how to complete written analysis and document conclusions. My confidence has grown at KPMG as I have learnt more and been given more opportunities.

I'm in the final year of the 3 year rotational apprenticeship and have enjoyed this section the most, I am within my specialisation team (you request your specialisation teams in your second year and they try to align your last year with your requests, I was lucky that I got a specialisation team I enjoy) therefore I am enjoying my work. The first couple of years I found it difficult because I didn't enjoy external audit and I was given 3 back to back rotations in different external audit departments. I was informed it was due to business demand which I understood, but its difficult being in departments and doing work I didn't enjoy and I knew I wouldn't pursue as a long-term career. Overall I do enjoy my programme, but I feel I could've enjoyed it a lot more if I had more say in the departments I was in.

I believe organisation and struture can be improved for this apprenticeship, we do not get informed of our next rotation until a few weeks before which sometimes doesn't give enough time to make connections prior to joining. The specialisation process is not set year on year (rearding the timing of specialisation team requests) and it is hard to find out information on this. As it is an important decision more open communication with the apprentices would be appreciated. When asking for updates on when we will find out our next rotation or our specialisation team we can feel dismissed and normally are not given a timeframe more specific than 'within the next few weeks', we understand there are lots of communications between the apprenticeship team and various departments but it is important to us so having clarity over when decisions will be announced would be appreciated. The structure regarding study and exams is generally well organised and communicated well in advance so we can update the departments we are in. Overall, I believe having set dates at the start of the apprenticeship clearly accessable and outlined to the apprentice will be more beneficial and increase clarity over the rotation and specialisation processes.

Lots of support is available from KPMG, from the apprenticeship team and people leader, to the department you are rotating in and the specific engagement teams. If there are any issues it is normally clear who to raise them to, if not there are a lot of resources in the intranet to find this out and/or you can reach out to your performance manager. KPMG have external support for wellbeing and you are encouraged to utilise this where necessary.

BPP provide lots of support throughout the apprenticeship, with a KPMG specific BPP email address to send queries on tuition, exams and the end-point assessment process. There are regular catch ups to see how I was progressing within my apprenticeship and to identify if there were any areas I needed more support in. The virtual learning environment has a lot of resources to help with studying, the course notes and question bank are really well put together and great for helping with exam preparation.

The AAT qualification helps provide context and helps understanding the background work and bigger picture when completing work, which does help. In a practical sense its less applicable as I have not been working as a bookkeeper or management or tax accountant, however it gives a good insight into these roles. Overall, the knowledge gained through completing the qualification has been beneficial for my role.

There are lots of extra-curricular activities across the year, with different social committees and groups to get involved in if you want to. There are many charity events, ranging from baking to physical activities, which are optional and you can just donate if you want to but dont want to take part. There are many social activies, including christmas do's and department-specific events.

Yes

KPMG gives apprentice's a lot of opportunities going forward, with great study programmes which go up to level 7. Although I haven't enjoyed all of my rotations I knew there were always other departments to reach out to and find out about. There are so many different departments and roles at KPMG, which you can find out about via the intranet or through reaching out to people, so there are so many different opportunities even after the apprenticeship and level 7 qualification. KPMG provides a lot of support and is a good place to work.

If you are 17 or in year 12 look at doing the KPMG discovery programme work experience when its running, this was a great insight to KPMG and helped get an understanding of the work completed. Make sure you do your research, including looking into KPMG values, prior to the assessment centre. The assessment centre sounds more daunting than it is, the interview consists of set questions - don't worry if you don't have work-specific examples when answering, you can use social-set or school experiences instead, the interviewer appreciates your lack of work experience if you are a school leaver. Make sure you network, be approachable and socialise with people - being friendly can go a long way. When you are starting at KPMG ask a lot of questions and make notes in a place you can easily access (i.e. notebook, Microsoft Word document), try to learn as much as possible about the department you're in and any other departments you're interested in. Don't be afraid to reach out to people in different departments to find out about their work - people are happy to talk to you and answer any questions.