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Recruitment:
ACA Training
Vacancies
With 20 partners (5 of whom trained and qualified with
the firm) and 160 employees, Blick Rothenberg is a medium sized firm and one of
the largest single site firms of Chartered Accountants in central London.
Our standards are extremely high and our
atmosphere is lively, friendly and stimulating. Many of our clients are part of
substantial groups with strong international connections. Others include SMEs
(Small and Medium sized Enterprises), high net worth individuals, professional
firms and charities. As we do not split the varying facets of our work into
separate compartments, we are able to offer our trainees variety, stimulation,
challenge and early responsibility.
Our partners are regularly quoted in the
press, commenting on tax and commercial issues, some have published tax and
accountancy books and a number of partners regularly speak at seminars and
conferences around the world.
Studying for the
professional examinations
Our trainees attend integrated link courses run by a leading
financial training company in London to prepare them for their professional
examinations. The courses combine long periods of full time study and progress
examinations, with a home study element. The tutors liaise with us on a regular
basis, allowing us to maintain an active interest in performance.
We pay for all courses, exam fees and study
leave for first sittings. In addition, we pay for trainees to attend all
available evening tutorials provided by the Chartered Accountant Students’
Society of London (CASSL). The Firms’ commitment to our trainees
development shows in the consistently high pass rates our students achieve in
the examinations. Several of our trainees have been prizewinners. This, for a
firm entering less than a dozen students among the three thousand who sit the
exam each time, is something of which we are very proud. Our success lies first
in the process of selection and then in providing the best possible tuition,
both in practical and theoretical terms.
Details of the professional examinations of
the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales – together
with a host of other useful information – can be found on the
Institute’s website: www.icaew.co.uk.
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Internal training
We run a series of in-house practical training courses. In the
first few weeks, trainees receive a basic grounding in audit and
accountancy.
Further courses run throughout the training
contract so our trainees are prepared for all the challenges they meet. In
addition to technical training, our courses cover personal development and
managerial skills such as assertiveness, teamwork and negotiation.
Our qualified staff and partners attend
courses to ensure that their technical knowledge is regularly updated. Those
with managerial responsibilities complete a management development programme,
which consists of a series of courses spread over several months covering all
aspects of modern management.
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Work experience
A trainee's day to day work at Blick Rothenberg consists
of:
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- The basics
Our trainees typically spend
two-thirds of their working time outside the office working at clients’
premises. Most clients are based within the Greater London area, but trainees
should also expect to spend some time out of town, perhaps six or seven weeks a
year. Around 20% of a trainee’s time will be accounted for by attending
courses either linked to the professional examinations or for internal training
purposes.
- Assignments
A trainee would start as a
junior member of a team of two to four people. A typical assignment might last
a couple of weeks, some more, some less. After a year or so, perhaps earlier,
our trainees start planning and carrying out small assignments on their own,
first at our office where they can easily turn to other staff for advice, then
at a client’s premises. Later on, as they gain in experience and
seniority, they start leading audit teams. We expect our trainees to exercise
their judgement, show initiative and take responsibility sooner rather than
later. We give them support and training to enable them to do just
that.
- Variety
Each trainee is exposed to a
variety of client work, providing accounting, corporation tax, management
advice and due diligence services. We do not split the varying facets of our
practice into separate compartments. In the natural course of events a trainee
will be exposed to all aspects of the work we carry out for our
clients.
- Our clients
Our clients cover a wide
range of industries, from heavy engineering and advanced computer technology,
nationwide insurance operations and charities, to professional firms such as
solicitors. Our typical client though, is a large, successful family business.
For many, the ownership rests in another part of the European Union (EU),
giving our trainees a unique opportunity to see how the EU impacts upon
business in Britain and how other nationalities approach businesses
here.
- Additional services
We maintain a
taxation consultancy department and students liaise with this and draw on its
expertise as required. The firm also deals with litigation support work,
personal tax, personal financial planning, company registration work and trust
administration. In addition, Blick Rothenberg’s subsidiary, BRAL
(Outsourced Accounting Solutions), has been helping companies set up in the UK
for many years.
- Life outside work
In addition to
providing you with the best possible training and working environment, we also
endeavour to make Blick Rothenberg an enjoyable place to work. The Blick
Rothenberg Social Committee is responsible for arranging events for all Blick
Rothenberg and BRAL staff. Previous events have included softball in the park,
barbecue by the river, a visit to Epsom race course and the highly popular
annual Christmas Ball. The audit department also has its very own social
committee, which arranges events for the audit team on a regular basis.
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Your future with us
By the time you are in your final year with us, you should be
working closely with some of our largest clients and supervising junior
trainees. You will have practical experience, excellent personal and
professional skills and you will be familiar with the latest developments in
the chartered accountancy profession. In short, you will have a solid all-round
working knowledge of the profession and will be in a position to begin to
formulate your ideas for the future.
Being a medium sized firm, we maintain a
close personal connection and interest in one another. We are small enough that
no one need ever feel that they are simply a cog in a machine, but we are large
enough to offer a challenging and satisfying range of work. Most of our
partners either trained with us or joined us shortly after qualifying. There is
always scope for good trainees to build a fulfilling and successful career
within the firm.
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What we are looking for
We look for students who really want to work in an independent
medium sized firm such as ours. We are not a cut-down version of the ‘big
four’. We exist very much on our own terms and in our own right. We are
looking for ambition, analytical ability and enterprise in potential trainees.
Good communication skills, both written and oral are also a must, as are the
personal skills necessary to work as a member of a team and to maintain good
relations with clients.
We naturally assume that candidates who
wish to enter the profession of chartered accountancy will be able to
demonstrate a high level of numeracy and the intellectual calibre necessary to
pass demanding professional examinations. That means they will need to have
obtained at least 300 UCAS Tariff points and to be heading towards a 2:1 degree
or better.
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How and when to contact
us
We aim to start our new intake in September each year
and start considering applications about ten to twelve months in advance.
Applications for the 2005 intake are now
closed. 2006 applications will commence on 1 September 2005.
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How to apply
We receive our applications online
- if you would prefer a hard copy, please contact
Graduate
Recruitment.
Jardine Jarret-Thorpe
Human
Resources Officer
Email:
gradrecruit@blickrothenberg.com
And finally...
If you require
further information about Chartered Accountancy in general, you should
contact:
Student Support
The Institute of Chartered
Accountants in England & Wales
Gloucester House
399 Silbury
Boulevard
Milton Keynes MK9 2HL
Telephone: +44 (0)1908 248 040
Email:
studentsupport@icaew.co.uk
Website:
www.icaew.co.uk/careers
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Study for the professional examinations