Audit Associate Review

I really enjoyed working for GT, and had a great year in industry.

I felt very valued by my colleagues and was often recognised for my hard work with points that could be converted into vouchers for example. I think that everyone is very close because you work quite intensely with your teams.

I got alot of support and help from all senior levels and everyone was willing to help me if I didn't understand the work set. I never felt like I couldn't ask for help and really appreciated the time colleagues spent assisting me.

At the start of the placement I wasn't that busy, but as soon as I was put on a job my work load did increase, however, even if I did work overtime we were often treated by managers with things such as lunches, sweets etc and could accrue TOIL as a holiday which was great!

I really enjoyed the amount of responsibility that I was given, towards the end of my placement I was given more challenging work often completing the fieldwork to an audit by myself. It felt great that they trusted me enough to do this.

Since returning to university for third year I am a lot more focussed and find myself completing work that I wouldn't have necessarily done having not gone on placement for example the readings or extra questions. I am more determined to get a first and can see how everything we are learning actually applies in the business world and not just academically.

There was a very friendly atmosphere in the office as all the juniors were sat together and could talk whilst working which made the day easier and went quicker. Every friday there was cakes and treats, as well as dress down friday where we could where our own clothes which gave a more relaxing environment. There was also a pool table and free coffee machine which also helped me through the day!

There was a lot of organisation within the company, especially as they sent all the placement students across the country on extra training courses to help us through the year which was great. Before any job I knew where I was going and how I would get there and went to a few planning meetings for some big jobs so I knew what sort of work I would be doing when I got on site.

The company invested a lot of training and development in myself and the other trainees. At the start of the year we went on two, one week courses. The first was a basic bookkeeping course which helped everyone with debit and credits and was taught fantastically and the second was a course on audits and what we would be doing. They also sent the placement students on an extra course to ensure that we are doing okay and learnt presentation skills. We also had quarterly business updates, online training courses and could be sent on different courses such as excel or a specific program if we wanted to learn more.

I have already been offered a job with Grant Thornton in the same office which is great and am looking forward to going back. It is great for 3rd year at uni as now I have one less thing to worry about and can focus on my studies! They also offer jobs to summer interns who work there for about 6-8 weeks, which is great as if you don't want to take a year out of university you can apply for this instead!

I had a great time whilst working at Grant Thornton, everyone was fairly young and always wanting to do something. There were a lot of social activities, organised through work and ones outside work. The work events were heavily subsidised and great when you got a day off work to have fun! I have made some great friends from working at GT and look forward to going back to them.

I lived at home so it wasn't too expensive for me. However the area that most of the other trainees lived in was probably about £400-£500 a month including bills, so it left them with a fair bit of spending money afterwards! The centre of Reading was a bit more expensive than the surrounding areas and I know much louder. Socialising wasn't too expensive, average student prices in the week and obviously a bit more expensive at the weekend, it would just depend how often you wanted to go out!

As I worked near Reading there are quite a lot of bars, restaurants and clubs around the area as it was a student town which was great for nights out! There is also a cinema and mini golf in the town centre. Reading also has fairly quick access to London where the possibilities are endless. It was great when we were on away jobs as we could go to restaurants where you possibly wouldn't go normally as it was paid for in your allowance from work.

A lot of people organised different activities outside of work mainly for social purposes. You could also join the social committee and help to organise events such as the Christmas party or summer event. There is also the TVCASS society which is for thames valley accounting students who hold numerous events to help you network with other students at different firms.