Flexible Associate Review

I really enjoyed the placement as it gave me an insight into the many types of work the company does. I worked in consulting, audit and tax amongst others, giving me a really good variety of work. I also got to take part in many networking events which were really great as well as undertaking a professional qualification. I really enjoyed the fact that the company let me undertake proper meaningful work which was used to serve clients.

I felt very valued by colleagues both senior and on the same level as me. I was treated as though I was a permanent member of staff as opposed to 'the intern'. This meant I felt properly valued and I was able to undertake proper client work. My managers gave me lots of training and coaching in order to help my professional development which made me feel like they were really investing in my future. The more junior people I worked with really welcomed me into the company and invited me to social events which made me feel like a valued colleague.

I was given huge amounts of support and guidance throughout my placement. For every piece of work I was set, I was coached through what I was expected to do. I was also able to ask my seniors questions whenever I needed guidance with the work. My work was always reviewed and feedback was given to suggest how I could improve or do better in future. In addition I was also undertaking a professional qualification for which I was provided paid for college tutoring. I was allocated a personal learning adviser who I was able to contact whenever I needed, which was extremely useful during revision periods for exams.

There were some busier and some less so busy periods during my placement. Most of time I had just the right amount of work to complete. Once work was set I was given reasonable time frames within which to complete the work. If I ever completed work early then I was always able to get some more work to do which I found was great for my development. For a couple of months during my placement (known as 'busy season') there was quite a lot more work than usual and I had to work a few more extra hours than usual. I was aware however that at certain times of the year there is a lot more work to do and so I knew that I would be busy during this period and it was not a problem.

I was very surprised at how much responsibility I was given at an early stage in my placement. All the work I was completing was meaningful and was used in responding to clients needs. Managers placed reliance on me that I would complete certain pieces of work on time and to a good standard even in my first couple of weeks into the placement. I was also able to communicate directly with the company's clients regarding the work we were undertaking and so a lot of responsibility was left on my shoulders. In the latter stages of my placement I was also trusted to teach/coach other newly-joined staff members what to do for some types of work that I had previously done.

I undertook a business/finance related professional qualification during the placement which gave me a far greater understanding of the industry I was working in that I would have gained if I had just done normal work. This knowledge will stand me in good stead for my future career as I will be able to draw on this knowledge when completing work in the future. The amount of training and coaching I received meant that I developed my business acumen and accountancy skills to a much higher level than had the training not been so good. In my current role I am able to emulate the methods of my seniors and I feel their coaching really helped me develop my own coaching abilities.

The atmosphere was very open and friendly as all of the desks were in a large open plan area where you were amongst many colleagues at once. I always felt like I would be able to go and speak to many of the more senior people in the office without feeling out of place or like I was disturbing them. Despite the open atmosphere there was still a culture of working hard. This meant that the office was an enjoyable place to work and yet productivity still remained high.

The placement was very well organised. It was very structures in that I had to attend college and training on certain days to be ready for the exams. On normal working days I always knew what job I was booked onto due to the online calendar system. The internship had dedicated staff looking after the people on the placement and sorting out the organisation of the work and jobs they would be assigned to.

The company invested a huge amount in me. They paid for my college tutoring, textbooks and exams for me to undertake a professional qualification. As well as this monetary investment, there were specific training weeks set up in order to teach us the basics of certain parts of the work we would be doing. Additionally there was constant coaching from managers where they spent time teaching us how to do work and how to improve in the future.

Future employment prospects for after completion of the placement are very high. This is partly why the company invests so much time and money into you, because they would like to employ you on a full-time basis afterwards. During the placement you are able to choose the role you would like to take on permanently after the placement and I was able to find out after about 6 months that I had a full time job afterwards.

There was a great social scene amongst my fellow placement students. We would attend college and training together which meant that we bonded very well. We held many social events throughout the term of the placement and have definitely made some friends for life! In addition to fellow placement students, I was invited to many other social events within the firm as well and sometimes even by clients!

The placement I undertook was based in London which obviously comes with the problem of being a very expensive place to live. Socialising can become expensive depending on where or how often you go out however the salary I was paid was reflective of the fact London is an expensive place and therefore this made the cost of living much more reasonable.

I undertook my placement in London which is the capital city and so there was obviously no shortage of nightlife! There are many different areas to go out to cater for everyone's tastes. I would say the London nightlife is probably the best I have experienced in the UK.

There were many activities and sports to get involved in outside of work. There are teams for just about every sport you can think of and personally I played a lot of football and badminton during my placement. In addition to this there are many firm-run charity initiatives to get involved in which can be great fun and also a great way to give back to the community.