Structure of the Assurance Graduate Programme London and chareer choices afterwards

Hi Anxo, a lot of timings do depend on the location and therefore the qualification being studied. The work will be similar in all of the offices but perhaps the time off at college could vary. Everyone is eligible for study leave though and would have certain time where they'll be out of work and learning/studying for exams

The busier periods can vary based on the clients you are on, but usually January/February are particularly busy times because of a lot of companie's year ends being in December

Audit is a great place to start your career, because you get a lot of experience with many different businesses, and you get the internationally recognised chartered accountancy qualification. This means you can decide to progress in audit or you can change to anotehr service line or perhaps join a company in industry? So many possibilities!

Hope this helps

Hi Rachel! That's really useful indeed! thank you very much!!

What do you think is the best and the worst about working in assurance?

In the first year, what's a typical day like? What sort of tasks and projects do you work on and how many company audits do you work on at the same time? How many graduates are there in your same team?

What are the main differences and challenges in working in Assurance FS and Assurance UK&I? Also can you chose which one you prefer when applying or is it determined by the company?

In regards to the qualification, can you chose in between the ICAS / ICAEW yourself or is it determined by your department?

Sorry for all the questions and thank you so much!

I think the best thing is the exposure that you get to high level finance staff in companies. It's really good for variety too. You are barely in the same place for a few weeks at a time!

Some people struggle with the exams, so that could be something that puts people off as it's a professional qualification!

In your first year you will be doing a lot of training and getting coaching from those above you.

In your first year you will only work on 1 client project at a time, this increases as you progress

Does EY provide any help preparing the exams? or is it 100% self study?

You get classes at ICAS/ICAEW college and you get paid time off to do these. You then get self study leave time too.

When you apply you can pick a preference of UKI and FS, the work is the same but just different clients. You aren't guaranteed you will get your preference, it's based on availability.