It is difficult to decide your career without really knowing it and experiencing it. I chose to take a placement year in audit sector to make sure auditing is the right path for me. With one year working experience in audit, I am now clearer about what skills I am still lacking of that are necessary or helpful for my future development in this industry, so I can utilize my  time and all the resources in the last year of university more wisely to gain these skills and knowledge. 

As I joined the audit team at the time when the Interim audit was already underway, and all roles are assigned, I started by helping other team members and learning with Deloitte handbook, online study session and previous audit working papers. However, by the annual audit, I was able to handle most basic works in auditing a subsidiary. The subsidiary audit was done by me and a senior member of staff who was responsible for teaching, checking my work, and dealing with complicated tasks. The annual audit cycle can be briefly divided into 3 phrases: inspection and preparation, substantive test, concluding and reporting. 

Auditing is really about teamwork and the working atmosphere in Deloitte was very welcoming. As a team member I built a high sense of responsibility and also a sense of pride as a member in the team. Furthermore, Deloitte arranges many social events such as a Christmas Ball and team building events to encourage teamwork.Each month Deloitte will hold a birthday party for all members of staff whose birthdays are in that month.

Completing a full placement year as opposed to a Summer Internship allowed me to experience working across the full audit cycle and to see the construction of the final audit reports. Moreover, placement program allowed me to combine audit theory I learned in university in to work practice and thus to have a deeper understanding of the audit procedures. The audit module gave me the theoretical knowledge of audit tests and the placement practice enabled me to know how they are actually done and offered me a chance to actually do it. 

In addition to the return offer I received from Deloitte, I have earned deep understanding of one thing---never feel full of what you have got, never stop learning. The job is not just simply about it, just like auditing is never just about audit, it is related to accounting, tax,  management, economics and all the sectors as all company can be the potential customers of auditing. Every piece of skills I learn now, I may find it helpful someday, and it is better for me to gain the skill now than when I really need it in the future works. Therefore the placement gives me the incentives to look further and broader.

From the beginning of the university the LUMS Careers Team has arranged many useful classes that taught me how to make online applications, write CVs, and take various assessments and interviews.