Public Sector Audit Review

I very much enjoyed my placement at Grant Thornton. They were a fantastic employer to work for which showed a real commitment to supporting its people and establishing a strong people culture across the firm. My placement provided me with real on the job experience of working in Audit, as I was given the same responsibilities as a first year graduate in the firm. They invest a lot into training days to support my professional development, as well as social events which make the role even more enjoyable.

The types of people that I worked with across the year was one of the highlights of my placement. The firm encourages a really strong people culture which helps to establish a network of supportive, friendly and motivational colleagues across the firm. When I made particularly strong contributions I was awarded with points on the virtual recognition sytem which really made me valued and motivated to continue this hard work in the future.

Executives leading projects were always open to my questions and prepared to take time to explain things where needed. I found that staff even at the highest levels, such as directors and partners, would occassionally come out on site to see what progress was being made and valued my contribution and were willing to spend time with me to discuss things. I was provided with a buddy/mentor before I joined the firm who made regular contact and was willing to answer any questions which I had. My line manager was extremely supportive and made regular contact and showed a real willingness to support my development and helped me to set and achieve goals throughout the year, for example by helping me to set up work shadowing days in a different Service Line to support my goal of gaining greater exposure across the firm.

This varied quite a lot throughout the year since I worked in Public Sector Audit and therefore the workload varied depending on when deadlines were approaching. There were therefore some days where I had a lack of work to do and would need to send 'available for work' emails, however the majority of the time I had a reasonable workload which challenge me but did not overwork me either. And when this was not the case, the firm invested a lot in training days and other events, and also seconded me to other sectors of the firm which was a great opportunity for development.

I was given pretty much the same responsibility as that of a first year graduate which made me feel like I was valued as a colleague, rather than being given mundane tasks for being just a "placement student/intern". But alongside this responsibility, they also provided a lot of training to support me and ensure that there was a reasonable balance.

The skils I have developed and training received will be invaluable in the future and are already reaping benefits for me in my final year studies, as the real life industry exposure is shedding light on some of the content that I am learning in my final year lectures.

There was a very positive atmosphere in my office, although I was mostly out at client sites so did not actually spend a great deal of time there. When I was in there was a hot desk system which encouraged me to work next to different people and meet different people within the department. Colleagues were supportive and would be willing to answer any questions that I had during the day.

The placement was very well set up. The Human Resources team were supportive throughout the application process and sent me timely and concise details of my role as well as the contractual agreement. My Line Manager met with me at the start of the placement to establish goals for the year. Overall the placement was ran very smoothly.

The firm invested a lot of time in training me. I attended two workshops, both lasting for one week, staying at Bradenham Manor which is a training facility in High Wycombe. This was an excellent opportunity for me to learn the theory behind the day job. They also held regular training days at the office to provide training on specific types of audit work which were approaching. I even had the opportunity to help organise the material for one of the training events which was a great opportunity to develop and acquire new skills outside of my daily role.

We all attended training days together at Bradenham which was a great opportunity meet the other placements, but unfortunately there was a slight lack of social scene amongst the placement students, possibly because were all so spread out across the country. Perhaps this could have been improved by holding a slightly longer course at Bradenham specifically for the placement students as I did week long courses with the graduates which helped to encourage social events during the evenings, but as the courses with the placement students was only one day there was not as much of an opportunity to do so.

There were a lot of opportunities to get involved in activities outside of my daily role. For example, the company allows one day a year to charge to volunteering. I therefore spent one day taking part in an Abseil Challenge down the office to raise money for Great Ormond Street Hospital. This was a great opportunity to do something outside of my day to day role.