My first time in the corporate world... cheers to an amazing journey!
I joined EY as a Business Apprentice at the age of 18 straight out of sixth form. I studies A level Math, A level Biology, CTEC Sports Studies and CTEC Business Studies. Initially, I wanted to study Neuroscience at King's College but decided on doing an Assurance Apprenticeship. I am a math enthusiast and a keen knowledge seeker.
Assurance Business Apprentice
I am an Assurance Business Apprentice based at EY in London. My day-to day work involves helping my seniors with administrative tasks such as helping them retrieve documents from the client and testing whether they meet the attributes we test. I also help with sampling the population we receive from clients which enables us to pick our samples and request for the relevant evidence documents we require.
Getting a chance to learn new skills and networking with professionals
Entering into the professional and corporate world at the age of 18 is quite exciting and I hope to gain experience and learn new skills which not only help me in my day-to-day job but will help in the future. Getting a chance to meet and talk to the Partners and Senior Managers has not only helped to improve my communication skills but has also given me an insight as to what their job entails and how they manage the work-life balance. Networking with them has also given me a chance to learn a few tips and tricks such as handy excel shortcuts and even where to get great smoothies.
Always ask questions!
Based on training sessions I have attended and the induction session we have had, the most common advice given to us was ' Ask questions.' And I absolutely abide by it. I always ask lots of questions!
My colleagues always remind me that there is no such a thing as a silly question. They are always happy to answer my questions and provide me with context on what I'm doing, why I'm doing it and more importantly, advise on the approach I should take to action a task. This helped me gain an insight into the wider picture of the engagement, helping me understand the client better.
I completed a task which involved a high risk item with minimal help.
Towards to end of my first busy season, closer to the sign off date, I was given a task by my Senior which revolved around a high risk item. For this, I had to reach out to the client and get the relevant documents and match the valuations. I did this task with minimal support from my Senior and was able to turn it around quickly. Doing this helped me gain an insight into a key risk item and I felt proud knowing that I was able to help my team.
