Joining a firm of accountants as a graduate trainee may not sound as exciting as being involved in the cut and thrust of corporate deal-making at an investment bank, or offer the starting salary of magic circle law firms. However, accountancy firms are obviously doing something right with PricewaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte and KPMG occupying the first three spots in The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers rankings.

The accountancy profession recruits a lot of graduates. “Our intake will be about 1,000,” says Sarah de Carteret, head of graduate recruitment at Deloitte. “We have more than 20 entry routes across areas such as audit, corporate tax and consulting, as well as a number of niche areas. So there is plenty of choice.”

Most graduates will be taken on to the audit stream, where they will study for their ACA chartered accountant professional qualification. Most other graduate career tracks also lead to an appropriate professional qualification.

Despite the large number of places, graduate schemes are still heavily oversubscribed, with the leading firms receiving about ten applications for each place. The application process is standardised, and rigorous. Successful applicants typically work their way through some or all of an online application form, online test, an interview that assesses them for certain competencies, an assessment day at the office to which they have applied — with an in-tray exercise, a written test and a group exercise, as well as a final interview and possibly a presentation.

Graduates point to several benefits of working for one of the leading accountancy firms. “You get a lot of responsibility and you get it early,” Ruth Stokes, head of recruitment at KPMG, says. “We recruit high-calibre students and while they work with their team, they will be out at clients within weeks of joining, and expected to do much more than just the photocopying.” It is a view echoed by the graduates. “I deal with companies that range from FTSE 100 or similar, right down to a small charity,” says Mike Rawcliffe, a second-year graduate at Deloitte, working in audit and based in the City.

“I feel like I am getting great experience, especially with the amount of client contact I have. I spend maybe one day a fortnight at our base offices and the rest of the time out with various clients, dealing with senior people. I was leading meetings from a very early stage.”

At KPMG, Iain MacIndoe, who joined the tax stream, also relishes the responsibility he has as a graduate. “I was assigned my own client list quite early on. So I have my own client allocation, assisting the managers and consultants with tax compliance work.”

Another plus is the level of support graduates are given. This may include a performance manager, who sets objectives and monitors performance, and a counselling partner, who can provide long-term career guidance.There is extensive study help too. “If we take audit,” Stokes says, “there is a three-year training programme to be ACA qualified.

“We have a dedicated exam training department providing support throughout that training. Graduates will have a mentor to support them, someone who has just qualified, and therefore knows exactly the stresses of the examinations and how best to prepare.” Once the tough exams are out of the way and graduates have qualified, a varied and rewarding career beckons. “There is a huge range of opportunities,” says Rawcliffe. “You can move to another part of Deloitte, another department, whether it is tax, consulting or corporate finance.

“You can become more specialised, or go overseas. There are secondments and exchange programmes within our global network of offices. There are lots of opportunities to broaden your skill set and move up the career ladder.”

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