Junior Tax associate Review

The team in the Birmingham office made me feel at home and in a safe environment to try and excel in a role and industry I had no prior experience of. I really appreciated the social interactions both at and away from the office that gave me a chance to understand the role of a tax advisor better.

I was given feedback regularly and if I struggled with any task then a junior would come and teach me in more detail the tips and tricks that made a difficult task easier. I was offered opportunities to socialise with members of the team out of the office and this was a key reason I chose this job over other offers, the staff are friendly and welcoming.

I sat next to my counselling manager for the duration of my internship so I was able to ask questions whenever required. I was also give a buddy ( a junior who is in the process of qualifying) who sat the other side of me on my 'pod'. This meant I could get the input of the right level of person for my question and that I always had an answer to my questions.

I was given a workload equal to my ability with opportunities to stretch myself thrown into many of my tasks. The longer I had been with the firm the more responsibility I got and this made me feel like a valued member of the team even though originally I was only there temporarily.

As tax is a business area that involves high levels of risk all of my work was carefully revived by a manager but as I progressed I was given more responsibility to handle and plan my own time independently and assign different tasks on my workloads different priority levels. A high level of oversight was always given by my buddy and manager.

The skills I acquired in my year in industry gave me the opportunity to apply for this job. Thankfully I passed the interview and now work at the firm full time in the role that I was an intern in, junior tax advisor. The key skill I learnt was time management and prioritisation, especially the ability to communicate a project plan.

There was a high level of social activity for junior members of staff especially. We went out for meals, drinks and even a team building away day including a stay in a country hotel. People were always happy to talk about work and home lives at work and it had a familial environment.

the internship is well advertised on the EiC (early in Careers) website with a specialist team who handle all junior (non-qualified) recruitment. They were quick to answer my questions and happy to give feedback at every stage of the application process. I also had my own specific contact throughout the process which I did not get with my other applications.

They gave me an opportunity to interview for the job I was interning in and I got the job a great result to me but also this meant they put a significant amount of time into preparing me to work in a tax advisor role. We even had a specific training day in London to understand the company, industry and exam process more.

I got a job at BDO and I still work there now.

We were encouraged to socialise together and were in the same hotel at the start of the internship. Subsidised drinks and meals throughout the process made it much easier to socialise with both inters and members of staff . I really enjoyed the social scene at BDO and hope to be involved in it when the next set of interns arrive.

I was living in central Birmingham so the cost of living was reasonable especially compared to London and Bristol where my sisters currently work. I spend les than £500 a month on rent and easily saved £350 a month on the salary provided so all in all a god deal for me at least.

Living in the centre of the second city means there were pubs, clubs and other nightlife all around me. There was even a pub on the ground floor of the office which was very handy on Friday evenings and with the train station just round the corner it was a cheap night out.

There were pre arranged social events as well as nights out that the interns organised themselves.