Corporate Assistant Review

A normal day on an audit would normally include having a morning team meeting to discuss the status of the audit and you would talk about what tasks you will focus on and if you had any capacity for tasks. Most of the day is then spent doing audit procedures, which for first years are the more easier tasks. You may be asked to sit in a a client call and take meeting notes. As you progress through the placement you start to take on more responsibility such as leading client calls, guiding new joiners. Each day is pretty standard but can vary in intensity.

As a placement student you are able to study towards a Associate Chartered Accountant by the ICAEW, which is fully funded. So you develop accounting skills. You also work towards your audit qualification. So there is a good balance of classroom studying and the ability to apply it towards client work. Their is also the personal development and soft skills such as team work, client relationship building and time management.

In the initial stages there is necessary hand holding, in the sense that because you are new certain things need to be run by team members; such as email drafts, audit procedures etc. But this really is to your benefit and not overbearing (at least not to me). As you gain in confidence and experience you are able to make more decisions by yourself and the team really allows you to take ownership of your work. By the end of my placement I was leading client calls, sending emails and working on audit procedures by myself. The team is still there to support you if you are facing issue, which is a nice safety net.

In the first few weeks you receive an audit bootcamp, where you learn all the basics of audit requirements and get to perform a trial audit. This I found helpful to semi understand what I could be doing on audits but because it is all so new, this can be quite daunting. When you are actually placed on a team, I think is when the training really starts, as you are able to make relations with senior members that are able to walk you through what needs to be done. I would say the main point of contact would be the second year members as they can really relate to any issues you have. I was also paired with a buddy who was really kind and helped me understand the 'unspoken rules' of the workplace. If you have a good university they should also keep in touch with you through the placement.

It was great; this being my first real corporate job it was a learning curve to understand the 'rules' and 'etiquette' of corporate work, but I acclimated quite well. Dress code is casual, remote work was encourage (at least in my team). Everyone on the team carried their load and helped when others were struggling. Good diversity; there were many different cultures such as Zim, French, SA that I was exposed to, which as a POC made me feel like I wasn't 'other'.

To a large extent; it was not what I had seen myself doing but I was surprised with how well I performed and grew. There were fun times such as work trips and volunteer days where I was able to bond with colleagues; there were also tough days were I was on client calls back to back, but its those days that build character in the long run. I made some genuine friendships, especially with other placement and graduate students that made going into the office something to look forward to. I gained my CFAB qualification which will help me in any future financial services jobs and the pay was good.

Yes

Don't be too stressed if you do not have any direct experience in audit/accounting, they are more interested in your soft skills such as time management and relationship building and your ability to problem solve and acquire new skills. Try to understand on a general level the work of auditors and their importance as that is what you will be doing. Interact with their student employment team on social media and reach out to any employees on Linkedin for any insights, the people at Mazars are always happy to provide advice.