Associate Review

My placement was really enjoyable. Not only did I learn a lot from work, but there were many social activities outside of work, such as regular drinks nights, that make the job feel all the more worth it!

The people were undoubtedly the best bit of my placement at Grant Thornton. They were really friendly, and helped me to settle in to the working routine very quickly. I made some really good mates during my year, some of whom I've already seen since I finished. There's enough people that there's bound to be someone with similar interests to you.

My manager was very helpful in that she asked me what I wanted to gain from my placement year, and helped book me on relevant jobs accordingly. She also relayed feedback to me on a regular basis, which helped me to continually improve.

There were a few long days during the year, which is not uncommon with audit, but overall I maintained a good work-life balance. Managers are very flexible in that you can leave half an hour early to go and play five a side one day, if you make up that half an hour at some other time. The time off in lieu policy also helps to compensate for any extra work or weekend stock takes.

By the end of my placement, I had completed the audit of a whole company. You're thrown straight in, but there's plenty of assistance should you need it. And when opportunities to progress arise, managers will look to push you and help you progress further.

My degree will be helped enormously, especially since I'm doing a module on Audit! Meeting new people, time management, building client relationships, problem solving - these are just a few of the areas I developed greatly over my placement.

The Liverpool Office was always good fun. Everyone got their work done, but had a good laugh while doing it. There was a lot of banter between colleagues, which helped keep everyone's spirits up.

The set up was excellent. Liverpool had had two placements before me, and since the scheme is nationwide, it works very well.

Despite not doing professional exams, I was sent on two of Grant Thornton's internal training courses, that helped to firm up my basic bookkeeping & accounting knowledge.

I was offered a full time graduate job.

The office had a lot of people around my age - some younger, some older - so there were a lot of nights out and drinks after work. I lived in the town centre, too, which helped as there were a few of us who all met up once a week to go to the pub.

Liverpool is a modern, developed city, so living in the town centre was not cheap. However, compared to Leeds (where I am at university), nights out were a lot cheaper, even at weekends. Food and drink also seemed a bit cheaper too.

The nightlife was fantastic. I went on quite a lot of nights out with people from work - sometimes it would be after a work meal, and I'd get a text saying meet us at a certain bar! Everyone was up for a good time.

Lots. There was a weekly five a side team, and a national Grant Thornton five a side tournament in the summer. Furthermore, there was an office cricket team run in the summer months, a summer and Christmas party, along with nights out and meals to thank us for working on some of the bigger audits.