Audit Associate Review

I very much enjoyed my placement year at Grant Thornton, throughout the entire year I enjoyed the work I was involved in, the variety of this work and the people who I worked with. Although at times the work could be challenging, I felt well supported by my colleagues which led to a very good working environment.

I felt valued by my colleagues most of the time - I typically worked in small teams with one senior team member. I worked with a variety of people, and most of these made me feel comfortable to ask questions and made me believe the work I was completing mattered and was important. The atmosphere both within the office and out at a client's site was typically very good.

A lot of support was given from the start, however I believe more training could have been giving at the beginning of my placement. However, I was always given additional training when I asked for it, and the company encouraged me to ask for constructive feedback regularly during the year, meaning I could learn where I was performing well and where I could do better.

On a daily basis I was usually very busy - I completed my placement year in audit and there was always a lot to be getting on with. At times where there was less work to do, we were encouraged to complete online training programmes, and also help out others with additional work they had. I did work overtime quite a lot, but I did not feel this was over the top and impacted on my social life.

I believe I was given a lot of responsibility - placement students are typically treated as first year graduates and therefore have the same responsibilities they have, which I thought was very good. I was responsible for the completion of certain areas of the audit which I believe was a good amount of responsibility, however there was always someone to ask if I needed help.

The skills which I developed during my placement year were invaluable for both my final year of degree studies, and my career beyond. I believe doing a placement year at Grant Thornton always you to develop both professionally and personally, not only do I believe I am much more commercially aware than I was before my placement year, but I am also a much more confident person.

The general atmosphere in the office was usually very positive - employees often interacted with other departments and were very friendly towards each other. I believe there were good relationships in the office between all the staff, which led to a very good culture to learn and work in. I enjoyed the days when I did get to work from the office, as working in audit meant a lot of time away from the office.

The work placement was very well set up, there were two placement students in my department and we were both given a very good induction, and were allocated buddies to help us settle in. I also attended many internal training courses which were very beneficial and I appreciated that placement students were allowed to attend these.

The firm invested a lot in training and development - I completed many online training courses and on the job training was always available and encouraged. I also attended three weeks of internal training at the company's training centre, which I believe provided a very good base of training for the job I was to do for the year.

Future employment prospects are very appealing within the organisation - typically, as long as placement student perform well during the year and are a good fit for the company, they receive an offer to join the company again on a training scheme after graduation, which I believe is very appealing and is what I will be doing after graduation.

There was a very good social scene amongst colleagues - socials were arranged quite a lot, from attending sports games, balls, parties and after work drinks. Since a lot of the trainees in the company are around the same age, there was a lot of events we all attended together and met up outside of work regularly.

I believe the cost of socialising was very reasonable, on the wage that I was getting I never felt like I had to say no to an invitation to an event because I couldn't afford it. Although I lived with my parents during my placement year and so can't really comment on the cost of living, many of my colleagues who were trainees lived in the city centre and could still afford to socialise a lot.

The nightlife in the area I worked was very good - there are a lot of opportunities for people who don't like going to clubs and pubs all the time, such as good cinemas, shops and sports events. However there are many bars and restaurants, often with student deals on because of the amount of universities and colleges in the city, which was a bonus.

There were opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work - there were a lot of charity events which we were encouraged to get involved in, and there were also opportunities to attend workshops in schools, sharing our experiences at universities as well. There were also sporting opportunities to get involved in during the year.