Graduate
Southampton
Loughbrough University
@GT_NickB

After my degree, I applied to a range of firms, including some of the Big 4. Grant Thornton was the third application I made, and I got through the whole process from beginning to end with them before any of the others had even made first offers. It really felt like if they were willing to take my application that seriously then this was a firm I wanted to be a part of. I’ve been here for eight months now, and initially I worked almost exclusively in Corporate Tax. The learning curve was steep, especially coming from a background where I hadn’t really done any tax. I work in corporate tax advisory now, including some personal tax advisory work.

You hear horror stories in big firms of just being a cog in the works. I thought before I arrived I’d be doing corporate tax returns for the next 18 months, and nothing else. Here, you get the opportunities and the broad client base, and in an average day I may be working on five different clients at any one time. I now have 50 corporate clients that I’m solely responsible for, something I wasn’t expecting to have until I’d qualified, so that’s pretty good going.

Grant Thornton is very proactive in helping staff to expand their role. Early on, someone said to me, ‘it's the stuff you do outside the normal day job that makes your career.’ With that in mind I got involved with our trainee social media team and write a monthly blog post on our graduate recruitment website, Spilling the Beans.

The social life is great; whether it’s beers down the pub after work, or a day out to the national football tournament in Leeds, where I’ve been this weekend. The downsides? We don’t open the office windows because we have air conditioning. And there’s no car park here!

Q: What's the best bit of advice you've received?
A: If people like you, and you get the job done, you'll be alright.

Q: What's the best bit of advice you've received while working at Grant Thornton?
A: Don't change.

Q: What is the best bit of advice you have given a client while working at Grant Thornton?
A: Custard creams are the best.

Q: What is the best bit of advice you would give a someone looking to join Grant Thornton?
A: The early bird catches the worm so start your application early. Stay calm and remain genuine, Grant Thornton is looking for a person, not a well-oiled interview machine.