As part of our graduate recruitment campaign, we asked some of our current trainees to blog about why they first applied and what life is like on the Wales Audit Office graduate programme.

Here, Harrie Clemens writes about her personal reflections.

To find out more about the scheme, and how to apply, please visit our website [opens in new window]. 

Qualifications

As Wales Audit Office graduates, we currently work towards the prestigious ICAEW ACA Accounting Qualification. This is also a chosen course of the Big 4 accountancy firms and we are joined in college by trainees from these firms. However, we also get ILM Level 3+ training. This is an internationally recognised course in management. Both this and the ACA are highly sought-after qualifications to have on your CV.

Reputation

The Wales Audit Office has an excellent reputation nationwide for their trainee programme, not only in the public sector but in the Auditing and Accounting field as well. If you are to move on after the Wales Audit Office, you can rely on the excellent name of the organisation as your place of training.

Variety

The work of the Wales Audit Office is wide- reaching and the portfolio of work is diverse and changing. It would not be an exaggeration to say that every day at the WAO is different!

Between the varied audits you work on during your training contract, and also on your secondment, the experience you gain at the Wales Audit Office is varied and diverse.

Impact

When I applied for graduate schemes, I was determined to work within the public sector. The WAO has more than delivered on this. Between auditing EU grant payments to Assembly Member expenses, I can see the wider impact my work has and the effect it has.

Connections

At the Wales Audit Office, you will make a lot of professional and social connections.

You get to know the other trainees very well through training but there are also a lot of social events. There’s a yearly boat party for ICAEW trainees in Cardiff and last year the WAO trainees all went to the Christmas pantomime.

However, due to the large exposure you have to other public sector bodies you also make lots of professional connections with other auditors and clients.

About the author

Harrie Clemens is a 2nd year trainee at the Wales Audit Office.

She joined us after studying for a BA Classics degree at the University of Warwick.