Audit Assistant Review

I really enjoyed my placement with RSM. I fully engaged with the firm ethos and the mentality needed to ensure a effective placement, this made the whole placement experience enjoyable. Because of this I really became an integral part of the audit team and integrated with the team well, enhancing the enjoyment.

I felt extremely valued by my colleagues. I was quickly integrated into the team and found myself doing important tasks which I was relied on to complete. Quickly throughout the placement you gain more and more responsibility which displays the reliance the team place on you to help complete a high quality audit.

With every job I was working on I always had a supervisor with me who was always willing to be asked questions and help me in any way - it is in their interest to help and pass plenty of work down to you as the progress of the audit lies on their shoulders.

Within the audit department where I worked I always found myself very busy. There is rarely any spare time where you are not doing work for a job you are assigned to or working to help another supervisor / managers job. I would describe the audit role as high pressured as it works to deadlines all year round, therefore good time management is imperative. Overtime is in the nature of the role - although this displays intent and commitment helping you get a job at the end!

There is a lot of responsibility placed on you if you display intent and show you can be relied on to produce quality work. The job role gives itself to on - the - job training and this enables you to gain experience and ability. As you gain experience the supervisors are happy to rely on you to as it helps spread the work load of the audit.

The skills I have learned in this role have helped me understand how easy it is to complete a task when you put your mind to it. I have learned things you cannot learn in a classroom by seeing them in action in real business scenarios, and it has also reinforced things I learned in university by seeing them in action.

The general atmosphere varies throughout the year as there is different periods of the year, some busy and some are relatively quiet. The atmosphere can without doubt effect the work being produced so it is important that you don't let this effect the way you work as it can often be temporary. The assistants and supervisors were all of a similar age and liking to me so the social aspects were great.

The placement was very well organised. The team treated you as if you were a graduate and integrate you into the team fully. The full integration into the team and the official manner with which you are treated, like any other employee, makes you feel valued by the firm as a whole.

The company has invested highly in me. Within my first month I had been flown down to London from Newcastle twice for 2 weeks of training with all the other new starters in my intake from all office around the country. The firm also offer a highly competitive salary for a placement student.

I have been offered a graduate role with the firm subject to me achieving the required grades in my final year at university. This is the best case scenario I aimed for and has made the placement worthwhile. It is like a year long job interview, therefore this is a great outcome.

I worked in Newcastle therefore the nightlife was a highlight! The team would go out for drinks every so often and celebrate with organised drinks events for times like the quarter ends, year end and Christmas. There was not a tradition of going for drinks every week, however this is not the story for all offices.