Ethan Pierce - Vertu

My role is Apprentice Accounts Assistant at Bristol Street Motors Harlow. My day to day duties mainly involve processing purchase invoices and credit notes. I also do bank reconciliation as well as posting journals into the nominal ledger. I also prepare financial settlements for the dealership.

I was attracted to this type of career because I wanted to use my math skills in the best way I could. And I know accounting is a great sector to work in and I wanted to become a part of that. When I left school all I wanted to do was work in accounts and do an accounting apprenticeship as I knew this would be the best environment for me to work and learn in.

Everything regarding my apprenticeship is really amazing, the day to day working in the dealership has given me so much experience. LSP have been very supportive of my journey and constantly check up on me and make sure that I am happy with everything and that I am not struggling. My tutor as well has been very supportive of everything, the sessions have been very helpful in my learning. I have always taken new knowledge from the sessions into the workplace.

My apprenticeship training has been very insightful, at first I had no real experience of accounting, however as time progressed I got more and more confident with everything. I always take the knowledge I have learnt from my training into my day to day duties, and it has helped me greatly.

If I was speaking to someone who was interested in doing an apprenticeship I would always advise them on doing something they enjoy. You always should enjoy what you do and should never have to do something that you don’t enjoy. I would also advise them to do their own research into the job sectors and make sure they look in detail at what each apprenticeship offers. Never jump into the first one available, always look around for multiple and choose the one you think is best.

I think employers should offer apprenticeships because it is a good way for them to teach young people their job sectors and give them the experience they will need to get the job opportunities they want. They would also have the benefit of keeping them on and have someone who is familiar with the job and not have to worry about getting someone new in and teaching them the job.

My apprenticeship has helped me achieve my career goals as it is helping me on my pathway to becoming a fully qualified accountant. It’s a great way of learning and working and it’s the best way for me to gain both knowledge and experience.