Working from home during the pandemic 
One of our trainees Grace speaks about how it has been as a trainee working during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Due to the current situation with Covid, all staff are currently working from home. The organisation has made the transition from office-based to working from home as easy as possible.
They have provided all necessary IT equipment and furniture to make the working environment as comfortable as possible.
The audit team and audit managers have been really supportive towards the trainees during this time and have always made themselves available.
Doing any work remotely will always bring its challenges, however I think Audit Scotland has made it the best it can be.

The benefits of being a graduate at Audit Scotland
Find out some of the advantages being part of the graduate scheme here at Audit Scotland with trainee Donna.
I joined Audit Scotland in 2019 and before that I had studied accountancy at university as a mature student after deciding on a career change.
I chose Audit Scotland because I had heard some really great things about the support that they offer while you study the CA qualification at ICAS.
I was also attracted to their flexible working policies which suit me because I have a young family at home.
The transition into working at Audit Scotland has been seamless. The training and support we’ve been given from induction week up until now, has been practical and relevant to the stage that we’re at.

Making a difference within Audit Scotland
Graduate trainee Euan talks about the different ways graduates and colleagues can get involved to make our organisation a better place.
Outwith the day-to-day job there are lots of different things you can get involved in as a trainee.
For myself, I chair a Diversity and Equality Group. We are a Diversity Champion with Stonewall and one of the things we are doing at the moment is reviewing all of our HR policies so that they are as inclusive for LGBT people as they can be.
We have had really great support from senior management as part of that. 
There is also a trainee feedback group which I am on and we get together to make sure the trainee experience is as positive as it can be, from start to finish, as you go through you trainee contract.

Work across the public services we all use everyday
Second year trainee Jack share some insight into the range of work our trainees are involved in.
Working as a graduate here you get to participate in a great variety of work. 
Within my first year here, I’d worked in audits in local government, central government, health and in the college sector.
You get to work with these organisations really closely so you get a real great insight into the opportunities and challenges with these organisations and across the public sector. 

Get a year’s experience before starting your Chartered Accountancy qualification
Jack, one of our current who had no accountancy experience before joining the scheme, talks about how our one year experience helped him before starting the Chartered Accountancy qualification.
What really stood out for me when researching Audit Scotland, and comparing it with other schemes, was the year’s experience that you get prior to starting ICAS and working towards your Chartered Accountancy qualification.
I found that year’s experience, personally, really helped me having had no accountancy experience at all and there was so much from my day-to-day work that was directly relevant when starting ICAS.
I think that year’s experience gives Audit Scotland graduates a real advantage and I would recommend the scheme to anyone.

Accounting experience not required 
Graduate trainee Euan talks about why having no accountancy experience is no barrier to applying, or success, on our Graduate trainee scheme.
I studied Business and Modern Languages at Strathclyde University and graduated four years ago.
I have absolutely no accounting background whatsoever, haven’t done accountancy before and that is really very common among new trainees.
In my year, about half of us had done accountancy at university and half of us hadn’t. It’s really nothing to be put off by or daunted by
Because there is really no difference in terms of success or pass rates in exams.

Flexible working arrangements at Audit Scotland 
Current trainee Jack speaks about how he manages his time and utilises our flexible working policies to suit him.
This is now my second year at Audit Scotland and I’ve really enjoyed the flexible working arrangements we have here.
I personally like to start early and finish around 4pm, and that has given me a lot of free time in the evening and has allowed for a really good work-life balance.
How graduates are supported at Audit Scotland
Graduate trainee Donna looks at all the different ways graduates at Audit Scotland are supported to succeed at Audit Scotland.
For me Audit Scotland is a great place to work because of how supportive the organisation and its people are.
They have buddy and mentor schemes in place to help with the transition when you join, and colleagues are really friendly and approachable.
People within the organisation genuinely want trainees to succeed and there are lots of opportunities for development over and above the CA qualification.
The flexible working policies also make it quite easy for you to get a good work-life balance, which for a graduate it can sometimes be quite challenging.

What’s it like being a graduate at Audit Scotland?
Get an insight into what our graduates do at Audit Scotland with trainee Euan.
So what’s it like being a graduate at Audit Scotland?
First of all you have really great opportunities to engage with senior management from the get-go.
You can have conversations with, for example, chief financial officers or other senior managers and that is really great to have that opportunity when you start.
The work is very challenging but it is also very rewarding. With new financial powers and Scotland being able to raise more of its own taxes there are lots of opportunities to get involved in different work.
There is also a really great community within the graduate trainees.
You usually start with between 10 and 15 other trainees and you form a bond with the people you start with and it’s really nice that you can go through the qualification together.

What you can expect from your first year as a graduate trainee
Current graduate trainee Donna reflects on her first year as a graduate trainee at Audit Scotland and the different type of work she’s been involved in.
Since I joined in September 2019, I’ve had the opportunity to work in three different teams, on four audits. This includes a performance audit and a Best Value Assurance Report.
This has given me a wide range of experience and exposure to different types of audit in the public sector.
It can be quite challenging at times to manage your own workload, especially when you are new to the organisation.
But managers, people in the team and the more experienced trainees are always on hand to offer support.