Apprenticeship

Apprenticeship
The Apprentices

Wednesday 20 August 2014

It’s now the middle of August and I’m almost half-way through my Rathbones apprenticeship. Since early July I’ve been working in the Personal Tax team that completes Tax Returns for both internal and external clients wanting Rathbones to assist with their tax affairs. As we get closer and closer to the Return submission deadline in January it is certainly getting busier. If I didn’t already feel like part of the company then this team would make sure I did so, giving me a lot of responsibility with completing client Returns. Whilst these are all reviewed before they are sent out, there is a bit of pressure to complete the Returns accurately to reduce the time spent by more senior employees in correcting my mistakes! Though the work can be difficult sometimes I am grateful for the trust that has been put in me to carry out such advanced tasks. When I first started this apprenticeship I had envisioned myself making tea, filing documents and filling envelopes for 24 months. Whilst I still have to do this on occasion, (and I can now make a mean cup of tea!) there are a lot of things I’ve been given the opportunity to do that I could never have imagined completing at this age. Just over a year ago I was spending most of my days with my head buried in a textbook, waiting to start my A-Level exams. Now I sit at my own desk at a top wealth management firm, helping to ensure that clients comply with tax legislation. It’s safe to say that this first year has been full of change, but it’s been one that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed. Bring on January!

Thursday 24 April 2014

I’m in my second of three teams now, the ‘Family Office’, and I feel just as comfortable here as in my last team. I am definitely noticing the differences between the teams, as my work here has shifted from solely accountancy work to a mix of accounts and taxation. I hear that in my next team I will be doing mainly tax work, so I really am getting a good impression of the different roles here in our department. I no longer compare coming into work to school life, as employment seems normal to me now! Attending college and starting my revision for my tax exams (ATT) has been helpful in the adjustment as well, as this has been a ‘bridge’ between school and working life. I think the increased complexity of the tasks given to me shows the responsibility that I have been given, and I know some of the apprentices feel the same. All in all everything is going well right now, and there is little else to say besides the fact that I am enjoying working in my current team, and excited to see what the next team brings.

Wednesday 29 January 2014

January Update

At the time of writing I'm 3 months, three weeks into the apprenticeship at Rathbones. In a week’s time I move teams and start over, so now is probably a good time to reflect on what's happened so far. I work in the Trust & Tax department along with around 20 other people, all of whom I can honestly say have made me feel very welcome here. My first couple of weeks were filled with training, meeting a LOT of new people, and some very tasty free lunches! If having to make a good first impression many times over wasn't scary enough I was taken into a client meeting on my first day by a director! Quite terrifying to be honest, but I was very grateful of the opportunity because it allowed me to learn a lot in a short space of time. Between then and now I have been taught how to take any client's accounts, new or old, and book-keep from scratch so that their accounts are ready to be sent to them at year-end (which is rapidly approaching!). Between February and September I will spend four months in each of the High Net Worth Client and Tax teams which I am looking forward to. The hardest part of working life so far (besides waking up so early!) has been the recurring thought of 'Did I make the right choice in rejecting university to come here?’. Hearing all my friends talk about student life - the miniscule number of hours they have to work each week, the fact that they've escaped so far from home and of course the social side – has made me question whether my decision was the correct one. But seeing them all over Christmas, hearing their tales of debt and observing their excitement at hearing about my job has confirmed the opinion I had, that an apprenticeship really is the way forward in developing careers. That's not to say that university is a bad choice or a waste of time. Having a degree on the CV is something that I will forever be envious of, and it can certainly increase prospects of getting a job. Yet more and more instances have come to my attention where individuals have attained a degree and then gone into employment in an industry completely irrelevant to their course. For those reasons I'm very happy to be at Rathbones and so far I only have positive things to say to anyone considering being, or hiring, an apprentice.