The first week on the graduate scheme has been a whirlwind of information to take in and decipher; much has been repeated in a variety of ways but all has been interesting and useful.The introduction to college I found particularly helpful; and from what I have found out is a new addition to the induction week. A basic start to accountancy in an hour or so was enough to lessen the size of the daunting task we have ahead.
Everyone in the office has been as friendly and helpful as I have come to expect and the new graduates seem very much the same. It’s been a fairly relaxed week of listening and learning the basics of the organisation; which to me now seems second nature having started a few months ago, but to a new starter must seem overwhelming. I feel like the importance of keeping timesheets has certainly been drilled in and used to terrify all!
It’s been a great experience to get to know all the people on my intake and now just need to get to college and find a cheap pub for after to celebrate, hopefully not commiserate. It has been a fantastic experience this far and I can only hope that college will be a continuation of this. There has been very little getting to grips with what we might actually be doing day to day in the office but I feel like this will be told to us later after the stress of exams is over.
Meeting the directors and hearing from the Comptroller and Auditor General, Chairman of the board and the Chief Operating Officer has shown how accessible senior leaders are to new starters and really demonstrates what the NAO is like on a day to day basis. Meeting all the other departments in the NAO such as facilities and payroll really helps you to realise what a large and diverse environment we work in. Meeting digital was of particular interest as they felt the need to defend themselves regarding security; they don’t make the rules! Or so they told me, as they seem to get publicity that they are the gatekeepers to our phones and laptops and in fact they are just enforcing rules from higher up.
I look forward to coming back to the office after exams and starting my first piece of work as a true AA1.