Aidan Ryan on the transformative journey of Crowe Ireland's Graduate Programme

We interviewed Aidan Ryan, a Director in our Audit department, to gain invaluable insights into the unparalleled learning, exponential growth, and professional development opportunities awaiting students who embark on Crowe Ireland's graduate programme.

How does Crowe Ireland ensure that graduates are supported and prepared for their roles during the graduate programme and beyond?

Recruiting and developing graduates is a crucial part of how professional services firms operate, in particular accountancy practices. Our ultimate goal is to develop our graduates into dynamic, competent professionals who will choose to progress their career with us in practice. Our approach to supporting and preparing graduates for their roles is a multi-pronged one. It includes:

• Structured technical training sessions conducted at department level
• One-to-one guidance or ‘on the job’ training that happens naturally within our teams
• Conducting periodic performance reviews and goal-setting

How do you personally work with graduates to help them develop their skills and reach their career goals?

At high level, I assist in co-ordinating the delivery of the firm’s structured training programme. On a day-to-day basis, I would work with graduate and part-qualified members of my team, assisting them and providing guidance but also challenging them to determine appropriate courses of action based their own experience and knowledge. I believe this is a great way of developing their confidence and problem-solving skills and making them feel valued.

What kind of growth and development opportunities are available to graduates, both during the programme and as they move into permanent roles within Crowe Ireland?

One would only need to look at how we structure our teams and interact between departments to gain a strong sense of that. All of our teams comprise graduate, part-qualified, qualified and experienced personnel – each at different stages of their careers. I believe the progression path within our firm would be very evident to anyone with the ambition to pursue a career in practice with us.

How does Crowe Ireland help graduates balance their work and personal lives, and encourage a healthy work-life balance?

This is extremely important in today’s environment. Like our training as noted above, this happens in both a structured and un-structured way. Our periodic performance review process looks to take feedback from our graduates around their work-life balance and the firm reacts based on that feedback. Our firm offers a high degree of flexibility when it comes to the mix of working from home or working in the office. As well as that, we are conscious that every individual is different and is motivated differently. On a day-to-day basis, I believe it is important to always maintain open and honest communication within the team. They must feel that you are approachable and can speak openly to you about these matters. The onus is placed on those at management level to ensure that such an environment exists. We always try to consider and cater for the home life needsof our staff on an individual basis.

How does Crowe Ireland approach diversity and inclusion when it comes to supporting and developing graduates?

There is a very strong international dimension to the firm. Many of our team members come from various parts of the world. Being part of the Crowe Global network also means that we regularly collaborate with member firms from across the globe on various engagements. Our firm also supports many charitable, social, sporting and community endeavours. Many of our team members are actively involved in these initiatives.

Can you describe any specific skills or experiences that graduates can gain by joining Crowe Ireland, and how these can benefit them in their future careers?

As a mid-tier practice, we do not tend to specialise in specific sectors. As a result, our client base is extremely diverse. We work primarily with SMEs – Irish-owned, multinational-owned, not for profit, across a range of sectors from retail, manufacturing, technology, professional services to asset management and many others. This diversity allows our graduates to gain a much broader level of experience and enables them to be more dynamic when advising our clients.

What kind of advice would you give to potential graduates who are considering applying to Crowe Ireland, and what should they expect from the experience of joining our team?

Ask questions, have a sceptical mind and challenge yourself. From a day-to-day work perspective, I believe the nature of the work and the diversity it brings allows for a high degree of job satisfaction. We always try to provide a ‘value add’ to our clients beyond just the provision of our core services. Our clients really appreciate this and it makes the work much more fulfilling. As our graduates progress and learn, they see that the work they do is making a difference to our client’s businesses. It might not seem obvious at the outset but they will build networks and relationships that will last and endure for the entire careers.

How does Crowe Ireland encourage a sense of community and collaboration among employees, and what kind of initiatives or programs are in place to foster this environment?

All our teams work in an open plan hot-desking environment which means we have no assigned offices, no one working behind closed doors. This naturally encourages greater collaboration within our teams from the top to the bottom and across the firm as a whole. We also have a vibrant social dimension to the firm. Our social committee organise numerous events throughout the year which allow our team members across all departments within the firm to get to know each other at a personal level.

Crowe Ireland offer an annual graduate programme. Speak to us to learn how you can be part of the next graduate intake.