Audit Semi Senior Review
at BDO
Higher Level Apprenticeship
Accounting
London
Review Submitted: April 2021
Overall Rating
3.4 /5
The Overall Rating is the average of all the ratings given in each category. We take those individual ratings and combine them into one final score!
2.5/5
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Overview of Role
3/5
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Skills Development
3.2/5
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Structure and Support
Overview of Role
Please give an overview of your role and what this involves on a day-to-day basis:
2/5
Spend a lot of my days working on information prepared by the client and trying to vouch it back to third party information. Spend a lot of time also trying to understand prior year work so that it makes sense to me before i can go about recreating the work done in prior years.
To what extent do you enjoy your programme?
3/5
I think it is okay overall. Some of the work can be quite tedious and repetitive sometimes and sometimes the hours can be long in busy season but we are also given plenty of time to revise for exams which is a big benefit of the programme that I am on
Skills Development
Have you learnt any new skills or developed existing skills?
3/5
I have learnt many skills since joining BDO, most of which are client facing skills and how to act in a professional environment. I have before more adept at excel skills and I am much more fluid working with excel and am able to do much more complicated things than before
Structure and Support
How well organised/structured is your programme?
4/5
The programme is run though the ICAEW which is a very standard and set programme so there is not a lot of room for variability overall. It seems well structures and run well. whenever there are issues it is easy enough to sort out from the training providors end and they are hapy to help
How much support do you receive from your employer?
2/5
Our employer themselves does not give us so much support with regards to exams but that mainly comes from the training provider BPP. Our exam fees are covered by BDO which I guess is very good support from them but on an actual work based situation they do not do too much.
How much support do you receive from your training provider when working towards your qualifications?
4/5
Our employer themselves does not give us so much support with regards to exams but that mainly comes from the training provider BPP. Our exam fees are covered by BDO which I guess is very good support from them but on an actual work based situation they do not do too much. BPP do a lot to help and often give us catchup emails
How well do you feel that your qualification (through your training provider) helps you to perform better in your role?
3/5
I feel that this is really dependent upon the exam being sat at the time. For example, the accounting exam that we sat at the start of the qualification was extremely useful as it comes up almost every day at work and helps to understand work more, but law barely comes up
Are there extra-curricular activities to get involved in at your work? (For example, any social activities, sports teams, or even professional networking events.)
3/5
There is a football teams that plays sometimes and recently there has been a mixed hockey team that has been set up which allows us to play against other companies and at the end of the season there is a big 7 a side tournament to play in which seems fun.
Recommendations & Advice
Would you recommend BDO to a friend?
Yes
Why?
Overall it is a good place to work, there is good job progression and the work is not too daunting which when you are studying for exams is quite a good thing. The seniors and managers are all very nice and kind and are willing to listen to our opinions
What tips or advice would you give to others applying to BDO?
I would recommend to just be yourself although that sounds very corny. The interviewers are very good at their job and make you feel very comfortable and they are able to distinguish good candidates who are just nervous and those who are not as strong or suited to BDO really.
