Audit Associate Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my placement at Grant Thornton. I felt that the level of responsibility given to me was significant, the quality of training and support was excellent and I came out of it knowing that I had learnt a huge amount and had actually been valued for the work that I had completed. I felt satisfied that what I had done was important and I had played a part in the completion of many audits. I would really recommend this placement to anyone considering one, especially in audit. The ethos Grant Thornton works by and the level of team spirit and community feel around the office was great and I truly felt at home during the year.

The work environment at Grant Thornton is what I found to be the best thing about it. Every person I met in the office I was working in was willing to help and valued me as a colleague. During the training we were given at Grant Thornton's national training site in High Wycombe I spoke to lots of other placement and graduate colleagues and they also expressed the same view. There were regular social events in our office and I will stay friends with a lot of other associates even after I have finished my placement.

Support was always available regardless of whether I was asking my own manager or other colleagues everyone was willing to take time out of their day to help me. During my placement I spent 2 weeks at Grant Thornton's national training centre for official audit training however when I was in the office or out on site my colleagues were supportive of me and helped field any questions or queries I had. This only helped to make my placement more enjoyable.

Once you have developed a basic set of auditing skills through the training and support you are given, for the majority of my placement I was out on site always busy with work to be done. I found that working hard meant that I was able to get all the work done however during busy season I was working overtime. A good thing about Grant Thornton is that overtime can be claimed back as holiday and so at times when I was working 8:00-18:30 the days felt quite long, but I was always busy and interested in the work I was doing and knew that I would be able to get rewarded for the over time I was working.

Obviously at the beginning I was not given much responsibility because I had had no audit experience before I started at Grant Thornton. However, the training they provide is excellent and once I was out on site at clients I was given a large amount of responsibility. All work is reviewed however you are trusted with the testing you have performed and I found I was testing areas of the company which make up a significant part of their financial statements.

Having a full year's worth of experience working in audit, communicating and working with clients and colleagues on a daily basis I have learnt a significant amount. These skills will not only be relevant for my final year at University but as I hope to go back into audit what I have learnt this year will put me ahead of other candidates who haven't done a placement year. I believe this year to have been invaluable.

Due to the fact that audit work is quite client based when I was in the office there weren't that many people around meaning that sometimes it was quite quiet. However I was rarely in the office throughout my time and that is why so many events were organised to catch up and see people who you hadn't seen for a while.

Finding out my initial start date was painful and it took until 3 weeks before I started to actually get an answer. However since starting it has been seamless and I have felt like an actual employee rather than someone who is just working for a year. There were also special events run just for placement students and this was a good chance to meet up with them all 3 times in a year to share our experiences.

The firm invested a huge amount in training and supporting me throughout my time. I had two weeks official training at Grant Thornton's national training centre and there was regular office training and development in the office.

I have successfully gained a graduate position with the firm. What is also pleasing to see is that there is the opportunity to switch offices if that is something which interests you and this is quite easily done rather than having to apply all over again.

I have been out on many occasions with other colleagues and associates which has been a great chance to get to know them better and this has provided a better work ethic out on site and in the office. There was one other placement student in my office who I got on well with and we mixed in with other interns, graduates and associates.

Cheap to live and to get around however it depended on the area you live in. Living in the university student area is cheaper than the main city.