Jack W.
About me
| Jack W. | |
| Physics | |
| Experimental Physics | |
| Undergraduate | |
| Vanbrugh | |
| 2008 | |
| United Kingdom |
My employment
| Audit Assistant | |
| KPMG | |
| United Kingdom | |
| 2009 | |
| 2012 | |
| £26500 |
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A day in the life of a Audit Assistant in the United Kingdom
My career history
I have worked as an audit assistant for a Big 4 accountancy firm for the past 2 years in London, Canary Wharf.
Courses taken since graduation
ACA (as part of my training contract with KPMG)
Where I hope to be in 5 years
To become a qualified accountant and then perhaps move into an advisory role - in-depth analysis of businesses instead of auditing them.
My advice to students considering work
Just go for SOMETHING - you can over think your initial career decision, I know I did. Go for something you are vaguely interested in (an industry, more like) and don't worry too much about the firm or the exact role you will be performing as you will for sure have enough time to chop and change! And make sure you come across interested during the interview!
What I do
It involves auditing (checking) the financial position and financial performance of FTSE 100, 250 and private clients when they disclose their financial results (generally) each year. It is a non-operational job as auditors do not create anything per se but we offer our audit services to clients. It involves a lot of client contact as we are based at our client locations for 85% of our working time.
Skills I use and how I developed them
I had an internship at an investment bank between my second and third years at York.
Degree skills:
My course helped me develop mathematical, analytical and problem-solving skills.
Extracurricular skills:
I developed social skills and team playing skills (sport for college and university).
What I like most
I enjoy the social aspect, many young people are hired by the firm (KPMG was 3rd biggest graduate employer when I started 2 years ago); employment benefits (extra holiday provided for instance); training you gain through doing the ACA (best business qualification in my mind that is on the market); the job gives you probably the best business learning experience you could gain, in a safe environment (i.e good job security, always working in teams etc).
What I like least
My day-to-day work is not compelling and can be rather dry.
What would I change? I would like to gain more experience of the other services KPMG offers and move to other areas of the business.
Next steps...
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