Ellie

“There is a myth that you must be amazing at Maths to be an accountant, but you’ll be trained in everything you need to know.

I’d been here as a trainee for six months when the first lockdown hit. Back then the prospect of working at home made me feel ‘argh’ but I’m now really happy to have that option. I sometimes go into the Exeter office, which is great for seeing colleagues and learning from them. Other times I’ll get my head deep into the work in the quiet of home. I also do a day release every week at college. It’s a great balance.

My mum works here, in fact she recommended that I apply to train as an accountant. I didn’t get in the first time. I felt very nervous at the first assessment centre as I’d not done anything like that before. You can apply again the next year, so I worked on the feedback and got another job to get more experience. I got in second time around and now I love it here!

I’m approaching the end of my three year AAT apprenticeship training. I started with the level 3 apprenticeship and now I’m close to achieving the level 4. I can go on to the level 7 in time.

I studied at Exeter College and recently went in to talk to their business students about accountancy careers. My top tips were:

– You can apply to any of our eight offices – but apply early to get the one you most want as there are only so many roles in each place.

– There is a myth that you must be amazing at Maths to be an accountant, but you’ll be trained in everything you need to know. To apply you need a GCSE grade 4 or above in English and Maths and 112 UCAS points in any subject. Or you can apply with any degree to go straight into the level 7 apprenticeship.

– Accountants aren’t boring, that’s a myth. They are smart, inquisitive and ambitious for their clients; the job is all about building relationships and finding better ways to do things together.

The world is your oyster and there are endless opportunities for everyone here. It is a big firm but that’s not something to be scared of, people are just people and in fact the culture is super friendly.”