Recruitment - Introduction

WHAT DOES THE ACA TRAINING AT HAT INVOLVE?

To qualify as a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) you have to sign a 3-year training contract. During the contract you have to get the right level of approved practical experience and pass all of the professional stage and advanced stage exams. For details of the structure of the ICAEW exams please visit http://www.icaew.co.uk/careers/facts/Exams.htm

All our students train with a leading firm of national tutors. Full paid study leave is given and approximately 24 weeks are spent at tutors during your training contract. In addition to this, you will also attend high quality practical courses, which are written and run by HAT (these are not normally available if you chose to train with a small firm). These courses are summarised in our Training section. But let's not forget, it's not all about courses; you will have a lot to learn in the workplace too. By training with a HAT firm you won't spend months on one section of the same audit. You will soon be responsible for completing a whole range of assignments including accountancy, audit and giving business advice to a wide variety of clients. You will receive support every step of the way, from exam tutors, colleagues, your training partner and from the HAT team, which is why, on average 88% of our students pass first time!

VACANCIES

We look for up to 60 ACA trainees to join HAT firms each year. We have two intakes in January and August. Most vacancies are in central London, but there are also opportunities in Surrey, Kent, Essex, Hertfordshire and Manchester. For details of our current vacancies please click here.

CLOSING DATE

We do not have a closing date for vacancies; we accept applications all year round.

MINIMUM ACADEMIC CRITERIA

You will need at least 5 GCSEs (grade A-C) including a B grade in Mathematics and English, 300 UCAS points (B,B,B) plus an expectation of at least a 2.1 degree classification in any discipline. The UCAS tariff points is achieved from your top three A-levels or equivalent, excluding General Studies, completed in the same academic year.

SELECTION PROCEDURE

Our selection procedure comprises of an aptitude test, a telephone interview and a first round interview at the HAT office. Once we have received your online application form, we will check to see whether we think you've got what it takes to be an exceptional trainee accountant. If we think you have, will invite you to take our online aptitude test.

Our aptitude test comprises of questions on vocabulary, comprehension and numeracy. It takes an hour to complete in total. We aim to give you your aptitude test score within 48 hours of you taking the test.

If you pass the aptitude test we will invite you to take a 20 minute telephone interview. If you pass this, you will then be invited to attend a face-to-face interview at our office in London. This interview is a competency based interview and will take about 45 minutes.

If you do well at interview, you would then be recommended to those member firms to which we believe you would be best suited. You would then be required to visit them for a second interview, so completing the selection procedure.

Remember one application to HAT means you will be considered for all vacancies within the group.

APPLICATION PROCEDURE

If you would like to apply to the HAT Group you must register with us and fill in our online application form. We aim to respond to all applicants within 1 week of receiving your completed application form. Please note we do not accept CVs or paper based applications, or applications from part qualified accountants.

Click here to apply now.