Tax Associate Review

I had an amazing placement year at Grant Thornton! From the start I was pushed to challenge myself through a variety of work, whilst being given a level of responsibility that I would not have imagined before joining. There was always opportunities to expand my knowledge from courses at Bradenham, the company's in house training facility, to the weekly team technical meetings. Outside of work there was always chances to socialise, for example an office bowling night and the dragon boat race coming up in September! I was gutted when my year was over, and can't wait to be going back after my degree, I would highly recommend it for anyone.

I always, and even since leaving still do, felt valued by my colleagues, where the atmosphere and culture created by the company helped to create an excellent working environment. The move to open planned offices and hot desking enforced the collaboration effect that Grant Thornton promotes, and allowed me to always sit next to someone different from the day before and learn from their experience. On my first day I was told that there is no such thing as a stupid question, and despite my attempts I found this to be true, even if some came back with jokes. I was constantly given feedback on my performance in addition to two main performance reviews, and was given a lot of responsibility to emphasise how I was valued by my colleagues.

Throughout my placement I, like everyone at Grant Thornton, was assigned a 'buddy' and people manager who I could turn to if I ever needed to, though in reality I was always able to ask anyone, no matter of seniority, for any help. I had monthly catch ups with my manager to discuss my performance and if there was anything that I wanted to be involved in that I had seen others in the team doing. These meetings also covered the university work that I was required to do on placement, and I never felt happy to ask for help/direction with this, despite it not being related to my role. Whenever I asked for feedback it was given promptly, something that is keenly enforced at GT, and this really helped to boost my confidence by highlighting what I was doing well, in addition to helping me progress in the future.

I always had work to do, even at the start of my placement, however it was not so much that I was forced to work silly hours, I would usually leave on time or if need be only have to stay an extra half an hour. This was helped by a weekly team meeting to discuss the work that everyone had on that week and to share if out if someone had too much or too little. This was particularly useful at the start of my placement when I didn't have my own clients, and helped to give me an overview of a lot of the different processes that I would be involved in over the year.

I felt that I was given a lot of responsibility during my placement, and was always treated as a normal graduate would be, rather than as a placement student. By starting before the graduates, it meant that I already had a bit more experience than them, and was then able to help with their training, which I certainly didn't expect when starting. I was also given the opportunities to assist and write up advisory work, in addition to being trusted to going to clients by myself.

My placement has given me a much better sense of work ethic, as I know that I can work for long periods, which was in contrast to university where a half an hour of work would be followed by a two hour break. The wide range of training that I received has also helped to improve my understanding of accounting and how it fits in to a company and can impact its work.

The office had a great atmosphere, it had recently moved locations and to hot desking which meant that there was always someone different to sit next to and if you didn't have an urgent deadline you could sit in the more social parts of the office to have a chat and banter with everyone.

The placement was very well organised, I felt looked after and appreciated throughout my year, and always knew that I could talk to someone if in need of help. I was treated the same as a normal graduate and given a lot of responsibility, rather than just an intern/placement at some other companies where you can just be photo copying for the year.

The company invested a lot of training and development in me, from the two day national placement conference at the beginning of my placement to other training courses at the firm's in house training centre and on the job training. I was able to shadow more senior members at meetings and constantly given challenging work to push me and help me develop.

Before leaving, I was offered a place on the graduate programme once I finish uni, and can't wait to go back. The level of responsibility that I was given on my placement year highlighted to me that there is the opportunity to progress in the firm in the future, and I genuinely enjoyed going to work.

The office had a good social scene, there were nights out every couple of months, and there was always people going out for lunch and drinks going on after work. The office was quite young which meant that most people attended events, and there was always something put on in the office, for example beer pong or pizza and drinks.

I lived at home on my placement year so didn't have to pay for accommodation or food, unless eating out. The office I was in was near Gatwick so wasn't quite London prices, although drinks were more expensive than at uni, and most nights out were in Brighton which again wasn't as expensive as London but still not cheap.

There were pubs and bars within walking distance from the office, but most team nights out took place in Brighton or Clapham which both have a wide variety of pubs, bars and clubs, and were close to the office which enabled us to be there within an hour after work.

There were opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work. The office had a football team that played against other local firms in addition to the national GT football tournament. The office also supported a local charity, and you were able to volunteer or raise money through events.