This article was originally published 24 August 2020. Angus is now Assistant Manager, Audit, with BDO in Australia.
I completed the BDO Melbourne Vacation Program when I was studying commerce majoring in accounting and marketing science at Monash University. I know students, especially those studying commerce, try to get as much work experience as possible with different firms whilst they are at university; so when the opportunity for the BDO Vacation Program came up, it was one that I didn’t want to miss out on.
The BDO Melbourne Vacation Program
My Vacation Program began in January 2018. It was a three-month program where I was lucky enough to start in the BDO office at the same time as the graduates. I went through the same induction, the same first week of training, and received great exposure to what a graduate actually does. I found that it was great how we were immediately involved with real client work where we were in direct contact with all levels of management, from accountants to CFOs.
Given that audit is such a practical field, I always found it challenging to study at university; however, the BDO Vacation Program provided the experience and resources to apply the theory we learnt into practise. I worked directly with the Partners who were extremely open to giving up their time to offer invaluable insights from their years of experience. Furthermore, the whole audit team looked forward to socialising at regular events, which brought us out of the office and contributed to building a collaborative and rewarding work environment.
As my Vacation Program was coming to an end, BDO offered me the opportunity to come back part-time while I finished my university degree - working two days a week. I readily accepted this offer as I really enjoyed the Vacation Program! There was also a lot of flexibility offered with the Undergraduate Program, with the two days each week being able to fit around my university timetable each semester.
Further development with BDO
My studies certainly did not stop after I graduated from Monash. I have since completed three subjects for my CA and I am now undertaking my fourth. Every two or three weeks we have an in-house training session to help with our CA studies, which is facilitated by one of our managers. I find it beneficial that the managers run these classes as I feel comfortable asking more questions, and they can tailor the experience to the real world and real clients you have recently been working on.
I think the benefits of having BDO run the in-house facilitations is definitely reflected in our results. BDO employees achieve great results in their postgraduate studies and I definitely think it’s due to the excellent support that we are provided along the way. Not only are there in-house training sessions but BDO also provides the study materials and study leave to attend our exams.
I expect to finish my CA at the end of this year. Hopefully after Covid-19, I would like to secure a secondment opportunity overseas. Given there are so many service lines, industries and locations you can work in at BDO I don’t see myself leaving any time soon!
To find out more about opportunities at BDO, visit our careers website.