A-level student secures accountancy apprenticeship with one of the Big 4
A Coleg Sir Gâr A-level student has secured an apprenticeship with one of the four largest international accounting and professional services companies where she will study to be an accountant and eventually gain chartered accountant status.
Olivia Williams is currently studying French, geography, biology and Welsh Bacc within the college’s Sir Gâr 6 A-level programme and upon completion, will be employed at KMPG in Bristol from September.
KMPG is one the Big 4, which are the four largest companies dealing with audit, tax, consulting and financial advisory services to major corporations. The company operates in 143 countries and collectively employs more than 270,000 partners and people, serving the needs of business, governments, public sector agencies, not-for-profits and the capital markets.
The 17-year-old, who is from Carmarthen, didn’t plan to work in financial services as when she started college, she had her sights set on a career in zoology, but she became doubtful about pursuing it as a career. After speaking to her mum, who thought she might have the personality and skills to pursue a business career, she looked at other options.
Olivia Williams said: “At the interview, I think there were around 120 other candidates who were a mix of apprentices, graduates and interns.
“The whole process lasted six hours with two 50-minute assessments and overall the process was challenging.
“Starting off with the first assessment, which involved numerical and situational questions, I had to rank what I would most likely do or not do in that scenario. We then had a similar assessment using video responses with two minutes to prepare and two minutes to deliver.”
For the first two years, Olivia will be working towards her AAT (Association of Accounting Technicians), which is one of the most recognised industry qualifications in financial services and will then work towards an ACA qualification to gain chartered accountant status.
Olivia Williams added: “I’m really proud of myself for achieving this, it was the only apprenticeship I had applied for and to be successful on my first application was surreal, especially as I’m not studying economics or maths which many of the other applicants would have had.
“I also didn’t have a specific company in mind but KPMG seemed like a company that actually cared about their people which made them really appealing.
“I’m really excited about Bristol, I love where I live now, but I feel that moving to Bristol will open up so many opportunities for me work-wise and will help me grow as an individual.”
Nina Theodoulou, A-level lecturer at Coleg Sir Gâr added: “Olivia has done exceptionally well to gain an apprenticeship in auditing with KPMG.
“She completed the four rounds of the very competitive application process and will start her apprenticeship in September; we are very proud of Olivia and her success.”
