Audit Associate Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my placement year at Grant Thornton in the Sheffield office. I met some great people and learnt a lot throughout my year. I was given responsibility from the beginning and was treated the same as a graduate trainee. I attended a lot of social/networking events and joined the office netball team.

I met some great people while on my placement year. As Grant Thornton employ a great deal of Graduates there are a lot of young people therefore making it quite a social environment. Everyone makes you feel welcome and you don't feel like you can't talk to the managers or partners if you have any issues.

At the start of your year you are assigned a line manager and you have at least 2 meetings a year with them where you set your goals for the year, talk about your performance and bring up any issues you may have. My placement was in audit therefore I was out at clients most of the time meaning I didn't see my line manager as much as I would have in any other job. However if you contact them they will always make time to address any queries you may have.

I was very busy on a daily basis as I was given work from the beginning and was treated as an equal member of the team. When carrying out an audit you only have a certain amount of time booked out at a client therefore you have to complete as much as you can before the deadline.

I was given responsibility and work from the start of my placement. As I was the only one doing a placement year in the Sheffield Office I felt like I was one of the Graduates and was treated exactly the same. Towards the end of my year I was competently completing most parts of the audit.

Not only have I learnt technical information about auditing and finance; I have massively developed my professional skills. I now know how to act in a professional environment which will assist me in my career after University. I also developed my; presentation, time management and communication skills as well as my confidence.

The company have an internal training facility in High Wycombe where I attended numerous workshops with other graduates/placement students up and down the country. I worked on my presentation skills and developed my knowledge on accountancy and audit in a fun and interactive way. You also set goals at the start of your year so that you have something to aim for and to ensure you get the most of the year ahead.

I have received a job offer with Grant Thornton in Audit for when I finish my degree. Also, in my final year at University I am a campus community manager for the firm where I will be talent spotting, coaching and informing students at Sheffield Hallam University about what schemes Grant Thornton offer to students.

The social scene was one of the highlights of my year, as there are plenty of young people in the office we regularly went on nights out. There are quite a few networking events which you can attend representing Grant Thornton with other professional firms in Sheffield. These are often free or subsidised and are a great way of meeting new people. I also joined the netball team in the office, there is also a football team too.