Corporate Assistant Review

Audit work within public & social sector, working with clients such as local governments and the NHS. This also included supporting staff with audit work alongside doing the ACA qualification (first year only during placement).

Yes; varied responsibility was provided as I was progressing, ensuring that there was a balance between being able to complete my tasks, but also challenging me to be able to learn the basic foundations, and to progress from there. Moments were also provided to take on additional tasks and responsibilities to broaden my soft skills and get greater exposure onto audit work so that I was able to make the most out of my placement experience and have more to talk about, such as leading assignments and being responsible for managing audit projects.

Core skills that were developed further were primarily communication and organisational skills; given this was a first-time role within a corporate environment, working on these soft skills were essential for me to thrive. Given the nature of audit, it is quite people-oriented in the sense that clients are needed to be dealt with, and to work as a team is essential to make progression on audits accordingly. Therefore, both communication and organisational skills were a necessity to build on over time, making me more well-rounded by the time placement had finished.

Plenty of support was provided; I had the privilege of working with a great team that understood the essence of working to my individual needs and strengths, capitalising on what I am able to provide to the team, whilst also having considerations for my workload so I was not left burned out or stressed. This was especially true whilst I was completing ACA exams, ensuring that I had appropriate time available to study, and also have plenty of support provided by managers on personal matters, but also on the work itself so I was not left alone and stranded to handle tasks that may pose great adversities.

Highly people-oriented - you get the feel that people's individuality can be appreciated rather than being confined into a specific character type. There is a wide variety of characters that will be encountered, allowing differences to be a reason to feel more together rather than separated. Without the people focus, the atmosphere would not be so great.
With the atmosphere specifically, the focus on work is strong, but it also a focus on celebrating accomplishments and being able to encourage development, so things like failures are seen as opportunities to learn from rather than detriments that would hold back a team.

I was able to enjoy my placement thoroughly; being able to hone in on building my basic skillsets further, whilst exploring new opportunities and connections, really helped me maximise the moments. Whether it was through work or even spending time outside of work hours, these were chances to cherish the offerings placement had, letting me grow and develop not only as a professional, but as a person too.

Yes