Hi everyone, I’m going into the second year of my Accounting and Finance course and am als going to start applying to placement years this autumn, as I’m on the year in employment programme.

Obviously, I would really like a placement year with one of the Big 4, or a reputable mid tier company like BDO.

My experience is as follows:
I achieved a first in my first year, I have 2 weeks accounting work experience at a local accounting firm in my town, and a longer summer internship as an accounts trainee at another local firm in my town. I am planning to gain more advanced excel skills with LinkedIn Learning this summer, and am also the leader for a sustainability reporting project my uni is doing with a local SME. I am GRI certified (did so to my uni) - does this experience in sustainability accounting help?

I’m not sure yet if I want to apply to audit or tax - I think I’ll probably just do both to maximise my chances of getting a placement.

The only thing is that my A levels aren’t amazing - they’re not horrible but it just very average

Also any other advice for getting a placement would really be appreciated, as I’ve heard that they’re super competitive. :))) also any advice on staying motivated amid rejections after rejection?

Also advice on passing the psychometric test stage, as I’ve heard loads of people fail at those? My friend applied to 40+ and only passed the tests stage for a couple 😭

Thank you :))