RGU Placement Scheme Student Profile

Kathryn Matthews

I graduated from The Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen in July 2008 with a BA (Hons) in Accounting and Finance. During my third year I was fortunate to secure a placement with EQ in their Forfar office. The placement was a requirement of the degree course I undertook.

The placement was designed to widen my knowledge and expertise in the field of accountancy, while also giving a further insight into accountancy in practice and the various other areas involved.

During my placement I participated in a wide variety of work. I assisted in the preparation of both accounts and tax returns and this gave me an excellent grounding for my final year studies. I also attended training events, including one for the computer package, Sage, which many accountancy practices use, as do their clients. This was extremely helpful.

The staff at EQ are all friendly, enthusiastic, and above all, eager to help. No question goes unanswered and nobody grudges helping even if I did feel at times that I was asking a really silly question. The atmosphere within the office is friendly and I was made to feel part of the team straight away.

The firm also provide appraisal forms on the larger assignments and I found these particularly helpful as it gave me a sense of achievement when I received a good appraisal on a job but it also detailed how to improve next time around.

I really enjoyed my placement at EQ and the staff events were always really enjoyable - whether it be the nights out at Christmas or the staff barbecue! All in all, I found the experience at EQ very enjoyable, extremely helpful and a great incentive to do well during my final year.

I was fortunate enough to be offered a CA training contract with them, which started in August of this year, in their Forfar office.

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