BDO Audit Summer School Review

Personally, I thoroughly enjoyed the programme. Throughout the two weeks, I encountered a range of stimulating scenarios and tasks to complete which kept my mind engaged and stimulated. I also met a variety of the BDO employees and had a really useful insight into how an accountancy firm operates. Overall the programme was extremely insightful and I felt I not only took away a lot from the experience but also had an enjoyable time.

In terms of feeling valued at the firm, I strongly feel I was very valued. Although I was just a summer intern with little expertise and experience in this field, I felt at all times like an equal to the rest of the employees and felt that the firm treated me with a lot of responsibility and respect in terms of the tasks they set me and felt like they treated me as an actual employee of BDO.

Before starting the work experience I was partnered up with a 'mentor' and 'buddy'. For me my mentor was an Audit Manager and my buddy was a audit trainee on the school leaver programme. I felt this was a great idea as any questions I needed to ask regarding the work I was set or about the school leaver programme was answered and this gave me a even clearer understanding of what to do or have a deeper insight into how the school leaver programme works.

On a personal level I think my skills developed a lot throughout the two weeks. For example, a lot of the time I was based on the computers and I felt my IT skills and ability to analyse data and numbers had increased to a high level. I was also introduced to new accounting software, which aided my understanding of how financial accounts are set up. Furthermore, I also felt my ability to communicate to a wide range of people had improved. In terms of helping me for the future, I felt the work experience was a great insight into the world of audit and helped provide me with a understanding of the life of an accountant.

I felt the summer school well organised and structured in general. On the first day, BDO set up an introduction day at the London Office to give the summer school participants an insight into what we would be doing throughout the weeks which I taught really helped settle me in to the firm. Also I managed to shadow an aduit trainee at a cilents site during the week which I thought was a really valuable insight.

The general atmosphere during the insight was up to beat and positive. Every one, from not just the department I worked in, were very welcoming and friendly when I arrived at the office and any problems or quires I had were answered straight away. The BDO employees made me feel at ease at all times and were happy to have me.

Not applicable because I only completed a two week placement at the firm, so did not require any training or investment to undergo a qualification. However, from talking to BDO employees already on the Audit School Leaver Programme, it is clear that BDO invests heavily in its employees to undergo an accountancy qualification.

Overall, I believe the work experience placement massively helped understand what it would be like to have a full time role within the BDO establishment. Throughout the week I managed to shadow BDO employees in a range of departments and at different levels in the firm from audit trainees to directors and partners.

As the programme duration lasted for two weeks I felt I got a taste to the companies culture. It is clear that one of the main principles within BDO is team work and I felt I got a strong sense of this throughout the work experience placement. Also the notion of support from the seniors and others made me understand that within the firm their is a lot of support and help.

Through completing the tasks and going to the cilents site provided me a with an insight into the life of an audit trainee at BDO. Although some tasks were tedious, the work experience placement reinforced and consolidated my desire to become an accountant. The experience provided me with a real insight into the responsibilities of an audit and what they do on a day to day basis.

The travel expenses were covered by BDO and I was paid £200 pounds for the two weeks which I was more than happy with.

Although I was placed within the Audit Department for the duration of the summer school I had a holistic outlook of the whole firm as I managed to spend a few days in the other departments including Tax, Consulting and the Admin floors. This provided me with exposure to the whole office and listen to other peoples views and experiences of BDO which I taught was really useful.

At the end of my two weeks, someone within the Audit Team was transferring to a different office so they decided to arrange a leaving party. Here I was lucky enough to meet people from the same office who I haven't seen or who were working away from the office. It was nice to get different perspectives on the employees experiences within the firm and the sector they worked in.

When talking to my buddy and mentor they told me about the range of actives that employees get involved in outside of work. One being the annual football competition, where all the different offices compete in an annual football tournament.

Yes, I would defiantly recommend this insight into a friend. Personally, not only did I find this experience extremely useful and enjoyable, I also felt I enhanced my abilities to communicate to others which I feel I can transfer latter in life. For me, I feel BDO is a really helpful company that will do the best to support their employees.