Since July 2013, I have been employed at Brealey Foster
& Co as the placement student. In this role I am primarily responsible for
the personal tax element of our clients’ tax returns, but also will be assigned
tasks which offer an insight into different aspects of accounting.
Personally, the main reason for taking up a work placement
was to gain an understanding of what a career in accounting was about and to familiarise
myself with the office environment. This is possible in my current position as
I am able to experience all the topics that I studied during my first two years
of university using real figures that belong to actual people. A greater degree
of care and accuracy is therefore something that you will learn during an
accounting placement, which I hope to take forward with me in my final year of study
and into future job applications.
The change from theory to actual projects is initially
daunting, but once you settle into the job and the workplace it is very
satisfying to see happy clients and senior members of staff. The main advantage
of experiencing a placement is the increased level of confidence that it gives
you. Even self-assured individuals can develop skills to improve their appearance
to future employers.
No matter how confident you are, your personal skills can
always improve and weaknesses can be transformed into strengths. Before taking
on the work placement I feared that my lack of presenting skills would hold me
back in my career. Since coming into Brealey Foster & Co, I have been given
genuine responsibility which in turn means my role is client facing. As a
result, throughout the year my communication skills with clients have vastly
improved. Not only do you need to talk over the phone but are also involved in
meetings where you are in charge of giving guidance and explaining your work.
You will also improve your organisational skills. With
personal tax computations, there is a self-assessment deadline at the end of
January. Time management was therefore required to ensure that all work is
completed before the end date and all clients were happy.
The process of a work placement doesn't start on your first
day of work. The effort you put in towards application processes and interviews
will reflect well to employers. Getting a few knock-backs before my interview
with Brealey Foster & Co, allowed me time to evaluate the areas where I
needed to improve and it helped me to analyse what companies wanted in a
placement student. All in all, the route from deciding you want to do a
placement year all the way to completion is entirely worthwhile.
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