What's It Like Being A Trainee At Thomas May & Co?

I graduated from Loughborough University in 2005 and started working for Thomas May in late August of the same year. I chose Thomas May because it offered a variety of work ranging from small and medium sized businesses up to quite large private company groups. It therefore combines the advantages of working in smaller teams and getting greater exposure and responsibility early on in my career.

As an audit junior you will assist audit seniors on our medium to large audits. Because we are a medium sized firm, the length of time spent on any one assignment will be limited to a few weeks rather than months. Similarly, you will normally stay with the client from start to finish, giving you a good overview of the auditing world from the very start of your training contract.

Our audit clients vary from specialised clients like solicitors, building societies and charities to car crash testing facilities to the slightly less glamorous, paper and brick manufacturers.

I have been at Thomas May just over a year now. I have recently started taking on smaller audits on my own and expect to be taking a team out as audit senior in the next few months. Working for a medium sized firm means that individual merit is quickly recognised and responsibility is there for you as soon as you are ready for it. You are formally appraised by your audit senior / manager regularly and the partners take a personal interest in your training.

You will also spend a similar amount of time in the office preparing accounts for a range of clients from sole traders to limited companies. This is invaluable work experience as it is much easier to audit a set of accounts if you know how to put them together yourself.

The remainder of your time is spent at college studying towards your exams. Studying towards the ACA exams can be hard work especially when you also have a full time job to fit in.  Thomas May do give you day release from work to attend college but, on average, be prepared to spend an additional 10-15 hours per week studying at home.

My degree was a BSc in Mathematics and Management and although it enabled me to gain an exemption from one of my exams, you are in no way at a disadvantage if you have not done a finance related degree. Thomas May do recruit from various disciplines but it will help if you are interested in business and commercially aware.

On the whole, working for Thomas May has been varied and challenging and I continue to enjoy working with a variety of clients and businesses.

Emma Kirton